Loser Like Me
by Virtual Mage
Summary: Karofsky is just a bully, right? Or, could there be more beneath the surface? What if you're the teacher and you know more about your students than you want, and it's giving you flashbacks from your own past? - Klaine & Save - A prequel to Rise Above
1. 01  Born This Way

**Author's Note:** _Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with praise, constructive criticism, etc._

**01 - Born This Way**

* * *

><p>Will Schuester walked through the open science classroom to the small office connecting the classroom to the science lab. He paused to knock on the door before swinging it open just slightly. "Hey, D, you got a sec?"<p>

"Sure, Will," the science teacher answered, looking up from the papers he was grading. "Just trying to get these papers done so I can actually have a three day weekend this time. What's up?"

"Know that feeling!" Will said nodding as he fully entered the room. "Well, now that we've won Regionals, Figgins wants us to do another performance for the student body," Will said, scratching at the back of his head.

"Trying to top the alcohol awareness gig, huh?"

"Don't remind me!" Will said, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry," said the slightly younger man with a weak smile. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I know you're great with computers," Will began, "and the AV Club has all that gear in the auditorium that's computer controlled. Plus the kids say you've got some lasers in that lab of yours..."

"Maybe. Are we talking a simple light show, or going for all out shock and awe?" he asked with a grin.

"Well how do you top projectile vomiting?"

"Ah," he said, both of them grimacing. "I'll come over in a few and we'll see what we can come up with."

* * *

><p>"Look, Santana, we really need to talk," Sam said frowning. He pulled her into the science classroom checking to see that it was deserted.<p>

She pushed him up against the cabinet at the front of the room, slowly grinding against him and pinching his cheeks. "What is it my little guppy mou..."

"Santana, please!" he said pulling her hands away from his face. She frowned at him. "I ... Santana, I'm sorry, but this just isn't working."

"What?" she said, pulling away from him and crossing her arms over her chest. "Is this because of Trouty Mouth?"

"No ... yes ... sort of," he lowered his head, shaking it. "I just... Look, Santana," he said looking back up into her face, "I really do like you. I even love you in a way, even though this ... relationship mainly began just to make us both more popular."

"But?" she said, glaring at him and starting to tap her foot.

"But," he said, stepping forward and taking her hands in his. "I just can't do this anymore. I can't pretend anymore," he said shaking his head. "I've done all sorts of crap to try to make myself more popular, to make myself happier. I work out constantly to try and stay in shape. I try to watch what I say. I've completely changed my personality. Hell I even bleached my hair."

She snickered slightly.

Sam sighed and continued, "I've done just about everything that I could think of to be who and what people think I should be, but there are just some things that I can't change. And, yes, my big, guppy, trouty mouth lips are one of them. I was born this way." Santana opened her mouth to protest, but he put his hands up to quiet her and continued. "It's not just you saying stuff about my mouth; people have commented on it forever. You're my girlfriend, though, and when I tell you it bothers me ... you shouldn't tell me to shut up."

Her smirk finally became a frown. "Sam ... I. So you're dumping me because I tease you?"

"Santana, it's not the teasing, I just need ... more," Sam said, a pained expression on his face. "The physical stuff between us is great ... beyond great even, but I want someone that I can talk to about stuff. Someone who'll talk to me about stuff ... and you're just not ready for that."

The expression on her face was unreadable, somewhere between fury, shock and disbelief. "What is it with you and Brit and talking?"

"Look," he said, "you can tell everyone that you kicked me to the curb if it helps. I just can't pretend anymore. Being popular was supposed to make me feel better, but I'm just second guessing everything I say, everything I do, and the effort is just ... it's just too much to keep up with. I really don't want to hurt you, but I can't keep up the mask much longer. It's probably better that you break up with me now before I start babbling about comics and Star Wars in Na'vi again."

"I guess you are right there," she said, her face a bit less stony. "So, I am the one breaking up with your ass, right?"

Sam nodded solemnly.

"And I am the best you've ever had, right?"

"Without a doubt," he said, a slight grin spreading across his lips.

"Okay, but one last hug, froggy limbs," she said opening her arms. Sam smiled and obliged. "Not a word of this to anyone, or so help me..." she whispered in his ear.

"Not a word, I promise," he whispered back.

Her hands slid from his shoulders to his butt cheeks, and giving them both a sharp pinch, she pulled away. "Too bad ... you're gonna miss this!" she said, sliding her hands down her figure then smacking her own butt as she left the room.

Sam leaned back against the cabinet, shaking his head. _Oh yeah, I will._

* * *

><p>"Excuse me."<p>

Sam shook himself from his reverie and looked toward the doorway. The visitor stood there, brushing back a few stray locks of dark blond hair. Sam noted that it was roughly the shade of his own natural color.

"I'm sorry, can I help you?" Sam said picking himself up and moving toward the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm looking for ... Mr. Deen," the stranger said.

"Uh, this is his room, but he doesn't seem to be here right now."

"Well at least I got the right room, huh?"

"Yeah," Sam laughed. "Wait, Mr. Schue said something about asking him for help with our next performance, so he may be over in the auditorium. I'm headed that way. I can take you over there if you'd like."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it."

"No problem," Sam said grabbing his backpack and leading the way down the hall.

* * *

><p>Sam entered the practice room to find the rest of the glee club milling around. The girls were gathered around the piano; Rachel and Tina seated on the bench playing various combinations of notes. The boys were huddled in chairs on the risers looking over sheet music.<p>

"Hey guys!" Sam said, dumping his backpack on the nearest chair. "Has anyone seen Mr. Schue or Mr. D?"

"They were in the auditorium checking on that new AV stuff," Artie said, his eyes traveling up to the stranger standing behind Sam.

Actions ceased as they all, especially the girls, examined the sight before them. The stranger stood with his beige jacket thrown over his shoulder. The light plaid of his fitted shirt stretched over the toned muscle beneath.

"Who's your friend Sam?" Mercedes asked her eyes wide.

The stranger looked over toward the girls running his hand through his hair.

"He's looking for Mr. D," Sam said.

"Damn his eyes are blue!" Lauren said under her breath.

"You made it all the way up to his eyes?" Quinn asked, breathless.

The stranger arched an eyebrow and looked back toward Sam. Taking his jacket from his shoulder he folded it over his arm.

"Uh, the auditorium is this way," Finn said quickly ushering him toward Schuester's office, the most direct way from the practice room to the auditorium.

"Yeah, this way," said the rest of the boys. They looked over their shoulders to their ogling girlfriends as they put themselves between the girls and the 'invader'.

"So, you think it'll work?" Schuester asked, opening the outer door to his office.

"Yeah I think we can come up with something."

They both stopped as they realized that the glee boys were shoving someone in through the opposite door.

"Guys, whoa!" Schuester said.

"Danny?" said the stranger.

Deen looked at the stranger, his eyes growing wider. "Derrick! Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

"I was ... in the neighborhood?" Derrick said with a shrug. Dropping his jacket onto Schuester's desk he hugged Deen tightly.

"Okay, kinda creepy," Puck said, backing out of the office forcing the others to follow suit. They each quickly moved to intercept their female counterpart, determined to end the ogling and thus the threat to their territory.

The only one not being actively distracted by one of the boys, Santana inched closer to the door. "Damn! I know I've seen me some of that before, but I can't remember where. Oh man, looks like he might be taken though."

"Santana, be nice!" Sam whispered.

"Well they are awfully buddy, buddy, in there."

Sam watched as Deen and his visitor left Schuester's office through the outer door, their arms draped across one another's shoulders. _Interesting,_ Sam thought.

"All right, guys!" Schuester said, clapping his hands. "Let's get some work done. We have some shows to prepare for."

* * *

><p>Kurt sat in the Warbler practice room, distractedly flipping through his sheet music. He didn't even notice as Blaine walked in and sat on the sofa beside him.<p>

"Kurt?" Blaine said eventually.

"Hmm?" Kurt said, finally looking up. "Oh, Blaine. When did you get here?"

"About five minutes ago."

"Really?" Kurt asked astonished.

"Are you alright?" Blaine said with a concerned smile.

"Yes, I just..." Kurt sighed.

"You know you just haven't seemed very happy since Regionals," Blaine said with concern. "Was it losing there ... or losing Pavarotti?"

"No. Oh, I don't know," Kurt said. "I'm just not feeling that with it anymore. I mean I loved Pavarotti, but ... he was just a bird."

Blaine looked at him, his beautiful triangular eyebrows bunching together.

Kurt sighed again. "Okay, it did remind me of losing my mom, he's the first ... 'person' I've lost since her, but that's not what's really getting to me."

"Is it losing at Regionals and not continuing on in competitions?" Blaine asked. "I'm mean, like I told you we'll still have other performances."

"Oh, gee, more Blaine and the Pips." Blaine looked at him with a hurt expression. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm just feeling a little ... stifled."

"I'm sorry," Blaine said, placing his arm around Kurt and pulling him closer. "I didn't realize that it was this bad."

"Well I mean the blazers are great, the red piping really sets them off," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "But I would kill to throw down with Rachel or Mercedes in a diva-off!" Kurt huffed.

"I'm sorry."

"You said that."

Blaine pulled him over and kissed his temple.

"I'm sorry, Blaine. That was unfair."

"It's okay, I understand." Blaine kissed him again, this time on the lips.

There was a huge dopy grin plastered across Kurt's lips as they pulled apart. "I will never get tired of that."

"I certainly hope not," Blaine said smiling at him. "So, the question is, what do you want to do? What can we do to make you happier? More duets, a solo or two?"

"I really don't know, but I could get used to this," Kurt said as he leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder. "The duets aren't bad as long as I have a good partner."

Someone tapped Kurt on the shoulder and he turned to see who it was. When there was no one there, he shrugged and turned back toward Blaine, only to find Nick's face instead of Blaine's. He let out a little squeak.

"Hi!" Nick said grinning. "You guys really need to get a room!"

Jeff hopped over the back of the couch to land on the sofa cushion beside Blaine, his bleach blond hair landing in his eyes. Brushing it back, he said, "Yeah, you really need a room."

"Sorry guys," Kurt said as Nick came around to sit on the arm of the sofa beside him. "Does it really bother you that we're ... you know."

"Hell yes," Nick said. "Some of us don't have girlfriends and those of us who do ... uh it's an all boys school, so we don't get to see them until after practice!"

"So unfair!" Jeff said laughing.

Blaine shoved him playfully, "Well you're just going to have to deal ... or switch teams." Blaine winked at him.

"Only if I can have Kurt," Jeff said grinning.

"Sorry, he's taken," Blaine said quickly.

"Besides I'm a little more into ... dark and handsome than blonde and beachy keen," Kurt said.

"Hey what happened to tall?" Blaine said, a pout on his lips.

"Sweetie, you're shorter than me," Kurt said patting him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I was born this way! Besides I'm taller than most."

"You're shorter than me," Jeff said plainly.

"I'm taller than some then... I'm taller than Nick!"

"Hey leave me outta this!" Nick said throwing his hands up.

"Hey you can help a guy out. You know I've helped you out!" Blaine said laughing. "You never thanked me for those two phone numbers from the girls at the warehouse, by the way."

A dreamy grin spread across Nick's face. "Oh, thank you. Thank you very much."

"Which one did you end up going out with by the way?" Blaine asked smiling.

"Both of them," Jeff said, glaring over at Nick.

"What?" Blaine and Kurt both said.

"Hey, I just asked them both out," Nick said, "and they both just happened to say yes. I'm just waiting to see which one it works out with."

"Just," Blaine said. "Do not lead those poor girls on. I felt bad enough having to tell them I was on the wrong team."

"I'm not, we're just playing it by ear," Nick assured him.

"Ear my rear," Jeff said rolling his eyes.

They were interrupted by the chairman's gavel at the front of the room. They all looked over as Wes called them to order.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Wes began, "we have some business to discuss, and some of us have plans that we'd like to get to after this meeting."

"You mean your date," David said looking sideways at him.

"Well others of us could have had dates too," Wes told him slightly under his breath. "I did recommend flowers; you were the one who decided on poetry." Wes punctuated the last word with air quotes, gaining himself a kick in the ankle.

Blaine couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm so glad I have you," he whispered in Kurt's ear.

"Me too," Kurt whispered back.


	2. 02  Mistaken Identities

**Author's Note**: Let me apologize ahead of time for this chapter. I was on a roll writing it and it got LONG so I had to break it up. This part contains a lot of set up for some of the original characters, but there should be plenty to keep your interest. So bear with me through this one.

And now ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**02 - Mistaken Identities**

* * *

><p>It was late Monday morning when Will stepped into the choir room office to pick up some handouts he had run off for his Spanish class. He started when he heard a clatter from below his desk. <em>What the hell, do we have rats again?<em> he thought. He heard it again, and managed to zero in on the noise when the leg of his desk started to rumble. He reached out and picked up the cell phone glowing against the edge of the desk. _Damn, this is an iPhone. Not many people around here the can swing one of these._

Flicking the phone on, he said, "Umm, hello?"

"Oh, thank God!" came the nearly frantic voice on the other end of the phone. "Where are you? Who are you?"

"I'm in my office... And I'm Will."

"Will? Will Schuester?"

"Yes?" Will said, still a bit wary.

"Oh, thank God! It's Derrick. We met Thursday?"

"Oh, hey! How's it going?"

"Much better now that you found my phone," Derrick said sounding much more relieved. "It must have fallen out of my jacket when I put it on your desk. I'm flying out today and I really didn't wanna have to get a new one."

"Oh, man! Do you have time to stop for it?"

"Yeah, luckily I managed to get a flight out of Dayton, and I went further than that to find a good place to party Saturday night," Derrick said, eliciting a chuckle from Will. "They wanted to fly me out of Cincinnati, but who has time to drive all the way to Kentucky?"

"I hear ya there! You want me to leave it in the main office or give it to D?"

"Give it to Danny, if you could," he said, "that'll give me an excuse to see him and say good bye one more time."

"Okay, no problem," Will said, checking his watch and grabbing the papers he'd originally come in for.

"Thanks man!"

"Have a nice flight!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Bro!" Derrick said, walking into the science classroom.<p>

"Did you do this on purpose?" Dan asked, producing the phone from his pocket.

"Hell no," Derrick said, laughing and taking his phone. "Do you know how expensive these things are? Not to mention how much of my life is stored in here."

"Yeah, I do ... and my birthday's coming up," Dan said, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"You wish!"

Suddenly someone screamed from the hall, "Hey guys, N ... NO!"

Dan instantly ran toward the commotion, Derrick following on his heels. In the hallway they found Puck covered in grape slushee, a group of jocks moving down the hallway. One of which happened to be Dave Karofsky. Laughing and looking back over his shoulder, Karofsky caught sight of Derrick and froze. He then turned and ran.

"Fuck that's cold!" Puck exclaimed.

"Damn it!" Dan said, shaking his head. He turned to one of the other students and said, "Could you go to the office and have them call the janitor, please?" The student nodded politely and headed for the office. "Noah, go ahead and get cleaned up. Everybody else shows over! Let's get to class. And watch the floor!"

They all began heading back into their respective classrooms.

"Damn, things have changed since I was in school!" Derrick said, shaking his head.

"Not really." Dan said, frowning.

"Well in my day coaches didn't join in with the hazing," he said plainly.

"Coaches? What do you mean?" Dan asked, a confused expression plastered across his face.

"The tall one, brown hair," Derrick said. "I think his name is Dave."

"Dave? Dave Karofsky?"

"Well I didn't exactly get his last name."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dan asked his eyebrow arched.

"I met him Saturday night," Derrick said shrugging.

The bell rang signaling the start of class.

Dan, looking very distracted, turned to the class and said, "Okay, remember you have a quiz today. You have ten minutes to study while we wait for Noah to get back." Dan turned and grabbed Derrick by the arm and led him into his office, closing the door behind them. He rummaged around his desk for a moment and produced a school newspaper. "Is this the Dave that you met?" He pointed to the picture of the winning football team on the front page.

"Yeah, that's him, third from the left," Derrick said pointing to his picture.

Dan lowered his head and rubbed his forehead. "Derrick, he's a student."

"What the fuck?" Derrick said, clearly alarmed. "Don't you card around here?"

"What happened?"

"Well..."

"Derrick!"

"Come on, you know me Danny!" Derrick said and then sighed. "Nothing really... He said 'Hi', I said 'Hi' ... I bought him a drink."

"You bought him a drink?" Dan exclaimed.

"Yeah, but he just asked for a Coke."

Dan looked relieved. "What else?"

"Well," Derrick began, looking rather uncomfortable, "we just sorta made out in one of the booths in the back."

Dan opened his mouth as if to say something but thought better of it. "And?"

"And ... he got a little ... frisky..."

"Frisky?" Dan said, his eyes growing wider.

"And maybe a little ... gropy..."

Dan shook his head and slumped into his chair.

"Come on Danny, you know I don't do anything on the first date, especially if it's probably only a onetime hook up! It got late and I walked him out to his truck. He was sober. He drove off and that was the end of it."

"I'm sorry," Dan said looking up at him.

"Look, I'm really sorry to drop this on you," Derrick said looking at his watch, "but I've gotta go or I'll miss my flight."

"Okay," Dan said rising from the chair. He seemed in a distracted haze as he opened the door and led Derrick out.

"Love you," Derrick said as they crossed the classroom.

"Love you, too," Dan said hugging him tightly. He absently kissed Derrick on the jaw as they exited the classroom. Derrick turned and jogged toward the visitors' parking lot. "And call your mother when you land!" Dan called after him.

Derrick waved as he rounded the corner almost running into Sue Sylvester. "Sorry, ma'am," he said tipping his head to her.

Dan went through the rest of the days classes in a partial daze. Between classes he did some research on Dave Karofsky, and when the last bell rang he entered his office, closing the door behind him. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed, then tapped a few words into the search engine on his computer.

* * *

><p>"Kurt, are you sure about this?" Blaine asked as they stood at the 'add-ins' counter of The Lima Bean.<p>

"Yes," Kurt said as he turned and headed for a table near the window.

"Well, I can't say I'm not concerned," Blaine said, taking the chair beside Kurt, "but if you're sure, I won't try to talk you out of it. I would like you to take some more time to think about it, though. You have at least until the end of the quarter, right."

"Okay, that's just a few more days," Kurt said as he took Blaine's hand across the table. "You know you're not exactly an impartial opinion."

"No, but do hope I am one that matters," Blaine said with a pout.

"Oh, you're definitely that!" Kurt said, then leaned over and kissed him.

* * *

><p>Dan finished scribbling some information on a pad on his desk. He tore the page free, folding it and placing it in his pocket, then stood to exit his office. As he entered the classroom the intercom came on.<p>

"Mr. Deen?" came the school secretary's voice from the speaker.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Could you come to Principal Figgins' office please?"

"Is it urgent?" he asked. "I was just on my way to take care of something."

There was a pause as if she were checking the next room. "Yes, I'd say so."

Dan sighed. "Okay, I'm on my way."

* * *

><p>Dan knocked on Principal Figgins' door, and entered when he saw him wave.<p>

"Hello Mr. Deen," Figgins said, a slightly befuddled air about him.

"Principal Figgins. What can I do for you?" Dan said, walking up to the left side of the desk. He noted Sue Sylvester standing at the opposite end of Figgins' desk. "Sue," he said to her with a slight nod.

"Whiz Kid," she said, nodding back.

"Do you know anything about these?" Figgins said, spreading several photos across his desk. They were printed on computer paper, and were pictures of Derrick in various stages of dress.

Dan arched his eyebrow as he scanned them. "Um, no ... not really," he said, shaking his head.

"Or maybe these?" Sue said turning Figgins computer monitor around. The page it displayed was titled 'Derrick Vance' and it contained more pictures of Derrick, some of them nudes.

"Uh," was about all that Dan could manage with a shrug.

"Poor Mrs. Blue Hair, in the library almost had a heart attack when she saw this on one of the screens," Sue said. She shook her head and said, "tisk, tisk, tisk."

"Do you deny that he," Figgins pointed to one of the underwear clad photos of Derrick on his desk, "was here Thursday?"

"No... I mean he was here," Dan said shaking his head, a confused look on his face. "It was after classes ... and he was fully clothed."

Neither Figgins nor Sue looked impressed with the answer.

"These are all prints from a computer; they must have gotten them from a website like that one," he said pointing at the monitor.

"What about this?" Sue said, pointing to one of the pictures on the screen. It was Derrick, nude, reclining on a stack of oversized textbooks, his raised knee the only thing keeping him from being full exposed.

Dan chuckled. "Yeah, he thought I'd get a kick out of that one because it has that periodic table in the background. Personally, though, I think his hair looks stupid in it." Pulling his wallet from his pocket, he flipped it open, "I like this one the best." It was a simple photo of Derrick in a plain t-shirt standing outside what looked to be an apartment.

"So you don't deny that you are in a relationship with this man?" Figgins asked.

"Wait in a relationship?" Dan said, exasperated.

"You were seen in an embrace and kissing him earlier today," Sue said, rolling her eyes.

"Daniel, what you do on your own time is your own business," Figgins said, "but you cannot be doing certain things in front of students."

"I'm not in a relationship with Derrick ... I have a relationship with Derrick, and I've had it since I was five!"

"What?" Figgins said, shocked.

"He's my younger brother!"

Figgins was shocked while Sue looked miffed. "But the name on these photos is Vance not Deen," Figgins finally managed.

"Vance is his middle name, he uses it for work," Dan said. "Look I'm sorry for any trouble this might have caused. I haven't seen him in six months and he stopped by Thursday on the way to our folks' house. Derrick's a model, a pretty good one as well; there should be several cover shots in that portfolio if it's a good one." He pointed toward the screen. "I'm sorry; someone must have seen him and recognized him. All those shots are public domain and there's not really any way to prevent someone from looking them up save better net nanny software."

"No, no," Figgins said, "you have every right to see your brother. As you said they're public domain and readily accessible."

"But..." Sue said.

"These have nothing to do with you, Daniel," Figgins continued, waving his hand over the photos. "The students who pulled these up on the computers will be reprimanded since they clearly violated the school's computer usage policy."

"But..." Sue tried again.

"End of story," Figgins said emphatically glaring at Sue. "Sorry to have troubled you, Daniel," He said turning to Dan.

"No problem," Dan said managing an even tone. "If you'll excuse me, though, I really was in the middle of something."

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong> Hope you enjoyed it! Leave me a review and let me know what you think so far.


	3. 03  Exposed

**Author's Note**: Original version edited for continuity error after posting.

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**03 - Exposed**

* * *

><p><em>"I am such a LOSER,"<em> Dave thought as he slammed his locker. He started for the field, his cleats making their familiar popping sound as he walked along the hard floor. "_What the hell, I can't get anything right. Fuck, I went all the way to Dayton. What the hell was he doing here? Why the hell was he talking to Mr. D? Hey I wonder if they're together or something. No, he didn't act like he was with anyone. That would figure though, meet a nice guy and he's involved and with one of my teachers at that. I am such a fucking loser!"_ He arrived on the field and dropped his gear by the table near Coach Beiste.

"Alright ladies, let's get to warm ups," Coach Beiste yelled. "We've got a lot of stuff to get through today!"

* * *

><p>Deen squinted as he walked out onto the field. He scanned it and finally found Coach Shannon Beiste leaning against a table near the bleachers.<p>

"Hey, Shan," he said as he approached.

"Hey Danny Boy," she said placing her clipboard on the table. "What brings you way out here?"

"What, I can't just visit?" he said smiling at her.

"Well, it is a little bit out of character," She said laughing as she clapped him on the shoulder.

"True."

"So what's up Danny?"

"I just need to talk to Dave Karofsky for a few, if it isn't too much trouble."

"Karofsky?" she said sounding surprised. "Sure you can have him. I told them five laps and he's on like seven."

Deen arched his eyebrow; the coach just frowned shaking her head.

Waiting until he was within ear shot, the coach yelled, "Karofsky, get your butt over here!"

"Thanks, Shan," Deen said, "I'll be on the bleachers."

Dave slowly made his way over to his coach.

"Come on, shake it Karofsky!" she said and he began to jog a bit faster toward her. "Mr. Deen wants to talk to you," she said glancing over her shoulder toward the bleachers. She expected to find Deen sitting on the first or second bench, but instead found him at the very top. She shrugged it off.

"What does he want?" Dave asked warily.

"I don't know, he didn't say."

"Okay..."

* * *

><p>Dave slowly climbed the bleachers, sweat pouring from his brow. "You wanted to see me?" he asked as he reached the top.<p>

"Yeah, have a seat Dave," Deen said, pointing at the bench beside him.

Dave reluctantly sat down staring somewhere between his feet and the bottom of the bleachers.

"Dave, I know where you were Saturday night," Deen began quietly.

_"Oh, God, he knows? What the hell do I do?"_ Dave dropped his head and looked away.

"Dave most of what you do is your business, but driving an hour from home and going to a bar is downright dangerous. Anything could have happened to you."

"I wasn't drinking, all I had was Coke," Dave said defensively.

"I know, Derrick told me," Deen said. "Even if you weren't drinking alcohol someone could have slipped you something. You were lucky; you met a stand up guy."

_"Maybe it's just a 'you shouldn't drink' lecture. Maybe Derrick's doesn't want anyone to know either."_

"Besides, I'm fairly sure that you weren't there to drink. I know what kind of bar it was."

_"Shit, shit, SHIT!"_ Dave thought. "I ... uh..." Dave was trembling now, from fear or anger Deen wasn't quite sure.

"Look, Dave, I checked your grades for all of your classes," Deen said. "You were making straight A's and B's, but now ... well they're just crap. You're mouthing off to all of your teachers ... probably to you parents too."

Dave still sat silently trembling.

"You're picking fights, and making threats. I think I may know why."

"You don't, you're wrong! You don't know anything!" Dave said jumping up, ready to run. "_Oh, God, I have to get out of here!"_

Coach Beiste looked in their direction. She had obviously heard the raised voice.

"Dave! Sit ... down!" Deen said through gritted teeth. Dave reluctantly complied and Deen glanced down to make sure that Coach Beiste had returned her attention to her other players before continuing. "Dave, look, I think you were there at that bar, far from home, so no one would know you or recognize you. You said you weren't there for drinks, so I'm guessing you were there for company. The specific type of company you'd find there."

Dave stared at his shoes, fists clenched, his knuckles white as he pressed them into the bench. "_No, no, no, no, no!"_

"Dave ... Derrick, the guy you met ... he's my little brother."

_"What?"_ Dave's eyebrows furrowed and he glanced in the direction of his teacher's shoes.

"In case you missed it, he was there too, for pretty much the same thing as you. I think you're probably confused. I think you're scared. And I think you're lashing out because you don't think anyone will understand."

Dave's breathing changed, it went from a fuming pant, to trying to hold back tears. A tear found its way down his cheek and Dave quickly scrubbed it off.

"Dave, I saw the pain and the terror in Derrick's eyes when he decided to tell me. He thought I wouldn't be his brother anymore." Deen's own blue-gray eyes were tearing up now. "I saw the relief when I hugged him and told him that I'd always be his brother."

Dave was actively sobbing now.

"I was there when he told some of his friends. I saw some of them walk away, but most of them stay. I was beside him when he finally decided to tell our folks."

They were both crying now.

"I need you to know two things, Dave," he said placing his hand on Dave's shoulder. "You are not alone ... and it does get better."

Dave turned to face Deen now, tears streaming down his face.

"Derrick was right where you are a few years ago, but now he's successful, he has a great job that he loves, and friends who love him."

Dave's tremors were gone, replaced by the shudders of uncontrolled sobs.

"Dave I've got a piece of paper here," Deen said pulling it from his pocket. "There are a couple of web sites on it and some phone numbers. The web sites have information for guys like you. Guys who think they're alone, guys who don't think they have anywhere else to turn. The number on the bottom is Derrick's."

Dave looked at him with wet, questioning eyes.

"I gave him a call, and he said the two of you kind of hit it off Saturday. He said he'd be more than happy to give you an ear, to be a sounding board," Deen shrugged. "Someone that knows what it's like. Pretty cool of him I'd say, considering the fact that it scared him shitless when he found out that he'd picked up an underage dude at a bar."

Dave smiled and even managed a little chuckle. Deen reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief and offered it to the younger man.

"Text him if you don't feel like talking, or you don't have mobile to mobile," Deen said. "Just be sure to let him know that you're 'Dave from Ohio' so he can add your number. You don't have any pockets do you?" Deen said looking at Dave baseball practice uniform.

"No, sorry."

"How bout I leave it in your locker for you?"

Dave nodded.

"Is it 214 or 215?"

"214."

"Well let's get you back to practice before Coach Beiste has us both doing laps."

Dave managed a light laugh as he stood. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

Deen shook his head, "It's okay. It's no one's business but your own, but... Please, talk to Derrick, you are not alone."

The two descended the bleachers and stepped onto the field.

"All done with him?" the coach asked.

"Yup," Deen said. "Just discussing a little extra credit." Deen glanced over toward Dave and tipped his head. Dave nodded back at him.

"Great, he needs it!" the coach said. "Alright, Karofsky, I've got pitchers that need a catcher. Get out there!"

Dave jogged over and grabbed his gear then headed for the guys who were pitching.

* * *

><p>After practice, Dave stopped at his hall locker to grab his math book. As he opened it the slip of paper fell out. He picked it up and stared at it. "<em>I can't do this. This is wrong."<em> He balled up the paper and started to throw it away. "_Shit, someone might find it."_ He shoved it into his pocket, closed his locker and walked out to his truck.

Dave pulled on his seatbelt and started the engine. The radio suddenly blared; he reached and turned it down. It was a simple, sweet melody, a guitar and maybe a flute, definitely not the country/rock sound he preferred. "_Damn it Azimio! I told you not to touch my radio ... probably why he does it."_

He reached to change the station back to his usual, but the girl's voice caught him.

Look at me, you may think you see  
>Who I really am, but you'll never know me<br>Every day, is as if I play a part  
>Now I see, if I wear a mask I can fool the world<br>But I cannot fool my heart

Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?  
>When will my reflection show who I am inside?<p>

I am now, in a world where I have to hide my heart,  
>And what I believe in<br>But somehow, I will show the world what's inside my heart,  
>And be loved for who I am<p>

Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?  
>Why is my reflection someone I don't know?<br>Must I pretend that I'm someone else for all time?  
>When will my reflection show who I am inside?<p>

There's a heart that must be free to fly  
>That burns with a need to know the reason why<br>Why must we all conceal, what we think, how we feel  
>Must there be a secret me I'm forced to hide?<br>I won't pretend that I'm, someone else for all time  
>When will my reflection show who I am inside?<p>

When will my reflection show who I am inside?

As the song ended Dave realized that his finger was still hovering over the preset button. He looked into the rear view mirror and saw the tears in his eyes. "_Who are you?"_ He turned the radio off and quickly looked around the parking lot. "_How the fuck do you explain sitting in your car alone and crying."_

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief that Mr. Deen had given him and dried his eyes. Looking down on the seat beside him, he saw the balled up piece of paper. He opened it and smoothed it out.

www . itgetsbetter . org

www . thetrevorproject . org  
>1-866-4-U-TREVOR<br>(1-866-4-8-87386)

626-555-4383

He stared at the number at the bottom.

Slowly he took out his cell phone and began typing:

To: (626)555-4383 - This is Dave from OH we met last Saturday. Mr D said I should try talking to you about things.

He stared at what he'd typed, his thumb hovering over the cancel key. Then he took a deep breath and then hit the send key. "_I'm tired of being alone."_

* * *

><p><strong>End notes:<strong>

The song - "Reflection" by Christina Aguilera from the Mulan soundtrack

Hope you enjoyed it! Either way, leave me a review and let me know what you think so far.


	4. 04  Return

**Author's Note**: Another day, another dollar. _Wait, it's been a week and I'm not getting paid._ Another week, another ... oh, whatever. On with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**04 - Return**

* * *

><p>Blaine sat cross-legged on Kurt's bed watching as Kurt paced to and fro in front of the book case.<p>

"We've been over this," Blaine said. "I know you miss them all, but you don't have to do this."

"No, my mind is made up," Kurt said. "I'm doing it."

"Okay," Blaine said as he stood. He intercepted Kurt on his next pass. Pulling him into a hug he leaned up to kiss him on the forehead. "You know I'm behind you a hundred and ten percent then."

"Thank you," Kurt said smiling. "I couldn't do this without you."

"No," Blaine said, "I couldn't do this without you." Blaine laughed slightly. "You know, it had to be fate that day when we first met. It could have been anyone that you stopped on those stairs, but it was me. And we'd been playing with three different songs for that day, but it was 'Teenage Dream' that we settled on that morning. That line, 'you're my missing puzzle piece' ... you are my missing piece." He leaned forward and kissed him.

Kurt was smiling when they broke the kiss. "That was sappy."

"I know," Blaine said, leaning his forehead against Kurt's. "I'm sorry."

"No, I told you, I like sappy," Kurt said. "You complete me, too. Come on, I've got to do this now or..." He sighed. "Let's just go."

Blaine took his hand and followed him down the stairs.

"Dad, Carole, can we talk?" Kurt asked as he entered the dining room, Blaine following him.

"Sure honey," Carole said, smiling at the two and placing her mug on the table in front of her.

Burt nodded a greeting toward Blaine. It had taken him a while to get used to seeing his son with his boyfriend. He was beginning to worry that Kurt being gay was going to be a little easier to handle in theory, than in practice. After a few talks with his new wife, however, about seeing your son grow and start dating made him feel a little bit better. He had finally decided that it wasn't really the 'gay part' that was bothering him as much as the change in their relationship. Kurt wasn't sharing everything with him now, he was confiding in Blaine instead. Of course, as Carole had pointed out, there were probably several details that he'd rather Kurt share with Blaine instead. He also felt much better that Carole had had most of the same feelings when Finn started dating. It didn't hurt, either, that Blaine seemed to be a very responsible and respectful young man. He had to admit that his boy had good taste. "What's up kiddo?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately," Kurt said.

"Uh, oh," his father said, grimacing playfully. "How much trouble are we in?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Dad."

"Sorry, go on," Burt said, smiling and sipping his coffee.

"Well, first of all," Kurt began, "I really can't thank you two enough for what you did. I mean giving up your honeymoon to get me into Dalton..." Kurt shook his head and looked down at his feet.

Blaine placed a comforting hand on Kurt's shoulder and the younger boy angled his head toward his boyfriend.

Burt and Carole shared a worried look.

Kurt sighed and continued. "I ... I just don't fit in that well at Dalton."

Burt shrugged and shook his head, clearly bewildered. "If the classes are too hard we can get you a tutor or something."

"No, No, the classes are pretty hard, but I can handle that. It's just that..." Blaine squeezed his shoulder for encouragement. Kurt turned and looked at him and smiled. "Blaine's pretty good at fitting in, but I'm ... well I've never been one to fit into a mold. I'm not exactly the uniform type."

They all shared a chuckle.

"Well what do you want to do then honey?" Carole said, taking Kurt's hand.

"I want to go back to McKinley," Kurt said with a shrug. "I mean I loved it there ... for the most part."

"Kurt..." Burt started, concern on his face.

"Hey, anybody home?" Finn yelled from the back door. He walked through the kitchen to find them all in the dining room. "Hey mom," he said leaning down to kiss Carole on the cheek. "Did I miss the memo about the family meeting?" he asked with a smirk, standing on the opposite side of the table from the other boys. Scanning their faces, the smirk quickly disappeared. "What's going on guys?"

"Honey, Kurt's thinking about transferring back to McKinley," Carole said.

Finn's face dropped. "I ... uh..."

Kurt looked at him questioningly.

"Kurt ... we ... we would all love to have you back," Finn said, "but nothing much has changed. I ... we..." He looked almost pleadingly at Blaine.

Blaine shrugged, "I tried to talk him out of it. I do have a vested interest in him staying put, but his mind's made up."

"I know Finn," Kurt said before biting his bottom lip. "Better the devil you know as they say..."

Finn genuinely looked pained. He moved toward the shorter boy. "If this is really what you want ... we'll make it work."

"Finn you don't have to..."

"Dude, you're my brother ... I told you, Furt all the way, man. If your hearts set on it, we'll make it happen." He hugged Kurt, reaching behind him to fist bump Blaine.

Carole and Burt shared a look, somewhere between pride and amusement.

"So when are we doing this?" Finn asked.

Kurt shrugged, "Monday?"

Blaine frowned; it meant the end of their daily interaction.

"Okay, we got this!" Finn said. He patted Kurt on the back, and then jogged toward the stairs reaching for his cell.

The others looked at one another. Shaking their heads and laughing.

* * *

><p>Monday finally rolled around. Kurt took a deep breath as he opened his new locker and started sorting through his books.<p>

"Hi, Kurt," Mr. Deen said as he leaned against his classroom doorway. "Nice to have you back; we all missed you."

"Hi, Mr. D," Kurt said smiling. "Nice to be back ... I hope."

"Hey little bro," Finn said, jogging up beside Kurt.

"Finn, I'm not that much younger than you, so I don't really think that qualifies, as a 'little' brother," Kurt said placing the last book that he needed into his satchel then closing his locker.

"Yeah, well I do have about five inches on you," Finn said waving his outstretched hand over Kurt's head. "Besides, I've always wanted a little brother."

Deen shrugged. "They're not all they're cracked up to be," he said. "Sure, it's all fun and games one day, and then he's better looking than you, a far better dresser, and all the girls are looking at him instead of you."

"I don't think I have much of a worry there," Finn laughed.

"Nope, not at all," Kurt said, shaking his head.

"You'd be surprised," Deen mumbled. They both looked at him quizzically. "I never said he'd be looking at them ... I said they'd be looking at him."

"Okay then," Finn said giving Kurt a sideways look. "We'd better be getting to class."

"See ya, guys, and have a great first day back Kurt," Deen said, waving.

"See ya, Mr. D, and thanks," Kurt said waving back.

* * *

><p>It was the end of a blissfully uneventful first week for Kurt. His first day back, he had entered the choir room to cheers. Mr. Schue had cancelled practice and they made it their unofficial Kurt Hummel Day. Rachel had even gone out and gotten a cake adorned with little Hummel figurines. Kurt found them adorable despite the fact that they all looked astoundingly like the Von Trapp children, complete with lederhosen.<p>

Today, though, it was going to be business as usual. They did have Nationals to prepare for after all and apparently a performance for the school body before they left.

Kurt entered the room with Mike and Artie, and took a seat beside Finn. He sat his satchel down beside his chair and moved to cross his legs. "Umm, Finn can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure Kurt, what's up?" Finn asked turning to face him.

"Did you by chance put your 'secret service' plan into effect when you found out that I was coming back?"

"Um ... uh ... what plan?" Finn asked, trying to look oblivious. The emphasis was definitely on the word trying.

Kurt scanned his fellow glee club members, who were all trying far too hard to look uninterested. "Well, I can't help but notice that since I've been back at least one of you has been with me ... constantly." Kurt looked from one to the next, all of their eyes conveniently finding somewhere else to look when he came to them. "Poor Sam even had to sprint across the building to math yesterday after dropping me off at history."

Sam smiled crookedly from the other side of the room, as Mr. Schuester entered the room.

"And I'm not really sure, but I think it may be starting to creep me out a little that Mr. D is always leaning on his doorway when I'm at my locker." He stared at Schuester.

Schuester lowered his head and scratched at the back of his curls.

"I'm still not entirely sure why my locker was moved way over there to the other hall anyway. Mercedes says my old one is still empty."

"I think we're busted guys," Mercedes said.

"Yes," Rachel said, "we wanted to make certain that nothing else could happen to you, so we all agreed to take turns ... escorting you."

"Don't know about your locker though," Mercedes said. "I kinda miss having you over there near me."

Schuester made a slight choking noise causing them to all turn to look at him. "Uh, yeah... We kind of did that," he said. "We teachers got together and came up with a plan of our own. I'm back and forth between here, the Spanish room and the auditorium. Coach Beiste is between the locker rooms, the gym and the fields. Mr. D's the only one whose classroom, office and lab are all together, so he's there pretty much all day. Just in case..."

"Oh thank goodness," Kurt said, miming wiping sweat from his brow. "I thought I was getting paranoid."

They all shared a laugh.

"Look, I really do appreciate all the trouble you're all going through, but... Sam, please don't hurt yourself on my account."

"That was my fault," Puck said, frowning. "It was my turn, but I had to stay after class, so Sam had to take over for me."

Kurt smiled and continued, "And Mr. Schue, you might want to ask Mr. D to lay low a little. I think his constant presence is starting to creep out the other students with lockers near mine too."

"Okay, I'll see what we can do," Schuester said then began to pass out sheet music.

* * *

><p>It was Tuesday, and Mr. Deen was back at his station in his doorway.<p>

"Hi, Mr. D," Kurt said, approaching his locker. "I thought we were supposed to be ramping back your creepy old guy reputation?"

Deen chuckled. "We are. I'm on slushee patrol today. We had another incident yesterday. The hockey team seems to want to put themselves out there as the new slushee masters."

"Oh, great!"

"Tell me about it," Deen said. Behind Kurt, he noticed Dave switching out books at his locker. Closing it, Dave turned around and started down the hall toward them. Seeing Kurt, though, he stopped mid-step. His eyes met Deen's briefly, and Deen gave him a questioning look. Dave just gave him a dejected look and turned to walk the opposite way down the hallway.

"Okay, see you later, Mr. D," Kurt said as he closed his locker.

"Take it easy Kurt."

* * *

><p>Later that day, there was a knock at Deen's office door. Looking up he saw Dave.<p>

"Could I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, Dave, come on in."

"Um, first of all, Derrick said to say 'Hi'," Dave said with a half smile.

Deen nodded and smiled.

"Uh, second, he suggested that I ask you for a favor."

"Okay, my brother talks to you way more than he talks to me, and he wants a favor?"

Dave managed a bigger smile and a small laugh. "Actually the favor's for me."

"I figured as much."

Dave stood there, looking at his feet.

"Come on and sit down, Dave," Deen said motioning toward a chair. "Is this about Kurt? I know you've been avoiding him since he's been back."

"Yeah," Dave said avoiding actual eye contact. "I ... I need to apologize to him, but..."

"It's okay, I get it," Deen said. He considered a moment. "How about I ask him to stop by before practice tomorrow? It'll give you neutral territory and a chaperone. It might be better for both of you."

"Could you?" he asked, hazarding a smile.

"Sure, not a problem."

* * *

><p><strong>End notes:<strong>

Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave me a review or send me a message and let me know what you think so far.

By the way, I'm open to any constructive criticism. Please let me know if the layout is okay to follow. The site is washing out some of my original layout when I upload it, so I'm trying to readjust it on the fly.

Other than that, just let me know you're out there. I looked at the stats for the story and there have been readers from around 30 different countries, so there have to be at least 30 of you out there reading, but I'm hearing nothing but crickets chirping. I might be scared that you're all subscribing to the adage "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all", but then you keep coming back and reading... I'm beginning to wonder if you're all reading like it's a train wreck or something. You're giving me a complex!


	5. 05  Relief

**Author's Note**: Let me start by saying two things... First, sorry for being whiny last time, as I said I was starting to get a complex. When I thought about it, though, I realized that it took until that last chapter to actually get to the familiar characters so that you could begin to judge whether or not you might be interested in the meat of the story. Second, a big thank you for all of those who took pity and fed my ego with reviews. Another thanks to those of you who may not have left me a review, but who have kept reading to make it to chapter 5; I really do appreciate it.

Okay, enough of my blather!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**05 - Relief**

* * *

><p>"So, whatchya doin'?" Blaine said playfully through the phone's speaker.<p>

"I'm just heading for my locker to put my books away before practice," Kurt said with a grin, a skip in his step just hearing his boyfriend's voice.

"Oh," Blaine said. "So they moved you to the hall on the opposite end of the building from the music room right?"

"Yes," Kurt said placing his books in his locker. "So, what are you doing?"

"Not much," Blaine said nonchalantly. "I've just been hanging out."

"What's going on?" Kurt said curiously. "Your voice sounds funny."

"Sorry," a voice said in his ear.

"OH MY SWEET HEAVEN!" Kurt jumped, but Blaine's arms wrapped around him to steady him.

Blaine smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "It's Wednesday, early release, remember. I've been waiting outside in my car for you to get out of class."

"Oh good heavens, you scared me!" Kurt said spinning in Blaine's arms and smacking him playfully on the chest.

"I'm sorry, babe," Blaine said frowning playfully. "I just wanted to surprise you. I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Blaine, dear," Kurt said cocking his head to the side, "you just saw me Saturday."

"Yes, but it seems like forever when I'm used to seeing you every day," Blaine said with a pout.

"True," Kurt said grinning, then kissing him on the cheek.

"Besides if I'm going to do what we were discussing, I should really check the place out."

"Look, Blaine, I already told you, you don't have to do that."

"No, I don't have to, but... You know I ran from my problems, and, well if my boyfriend's brave enough to face his problems, I can at least leave my cushy comfort zone. Besides there is strength in numbers as they say."

Kurt smiled at him.

"So what's on your agenda? I'm yours all day."

"I have practice with New Directions, but Mr. D wanted to see me first."

"Maybe they won't mind me sitting in since we're no longer in competition," Blaine said winking at him. "Anyway, like I said, I'm your all day. I even did my homework while I was sitting in the car, so I'm yours all evening too." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oo, so you can help me with mine then." Blaine frowned, but then broke into a smile as Kurt continued, "We'll just get all of mine done quickly and then see what we can come up with for the rest of the time." Kurt winked at him and then led Blaine into the science room. "Mr. D?" Kurt said, knocking on the door as he entered

"Hey, Kurt," Deen said stepping out of his office. He looked over at Blaine, questioningly.

"Oh, Mr. D, this is my boyfriend Blaine, he goes to Dalton."

"I can see that," Deen said indicating Blaine's uniform. He offered Blaine his hand.

Blaine smiled and took the hand, shaking it. "It is a little hard to be inconspicuous in these. I probably should have changed, but I was in a hurry to get here."

"I remember your performances from Sectional and Regionals," Deen said. "You guys were spectacular. And I mean all of you. I have great respect for anyone who is their own backup band." Blaine smiled broadly. "Be sure to pass it along to your fellow Warblers."

"Thank you, sir, I will."

"You needed to see me?" Kurt asked.

"Actually, there's someone who needed to talk to you," Deen said walking over to sit on the stool at the lab bench that served as his desk.

There was a knock on the door and they all looked over.

Kurt gasped. "K ... Karofsky."

Blaine quickly closed the gap between Kurt and himself. Taking hold of Kurt's hand, he placed himself between Kurt and Dave.

"Could ... we talk?" Dave asked. He looked at their feet, not able to bring himself to face them.

Kurt was silent, frozen. Blaine could feel him tremble behind him, and gave his hand a gentle reassuring squeeze.

"Look," Dave started. "I know I don't have any right... I ... I've..." Dave was trembling himself.

"Just breathe Dave," Deen said.

Blaine looked over at Deen. The look on the teacher's face gave Blaine the feeling that everything was going to be alright, but Kurt was still frozen.

Dave took a deep breath, and tried again. "K ... Kurt I have ... no right to ask for your forgiveness, but y ... you deserve an apology. I ... was stupid. I was scared. Derrick said it was self destructive," he let out a little snort of a laugh. "I call it just plain destructive." He was breathing heavy now, close to sobbing. "I let it get the best of me ... and I ended up making your life what I was afraid mine would be." The tears came now.

Tears ran down Kurt's face as well. Even Blaine's and Deen's eyes were glazing.

"Kurt, I am so sorry. What I did to you... It was wrong... It was evil. I ... I..." He was outright crying now.

Kurt released Blaine's hand and carefully stepped around him, slowly approaching Dave. He reached out touching Dave's arm hesitantly. He was surprised when Dave flinched at his touch. The great monster he had been afraid of for all this time had himself become the scared child. "Karofsky, I..."

Dave turned his head away in shame at the sound of his own name.

"I don't know if I'll ever forget what you did," Kurt said, his voice cracking as he tried to fight back his tears, "or how long it may take me to forgive you. But ... apology accepted." He offered Dave his hand.

Dave stared at it a moment, then took it. He finally managed to look up. He fully expected to see the terror in Kurt's eyes from before, but what he saw when he finally made it to his eyes was relief. "Thanks Kurt," he said in a whisper.

"It's okay," Kurt said. "I ... understand in a strange way. Fear messes with your head. It messes you up."

Blaine came up behind Kurt, wrapping his arms around him.

Dave looked over to him. "I remember you."

Blaine nodded.

"I should apologize to you too."

Blaine shook his head, "Actually, I should probably thank you."

"What?" Dave asked.

Blaine shrugged. "Well, had it not been for you ... sure, I might have met Kurt at Sectionals ... he might have come to spy on the Warblers ... but had he not transferred to Dalton, I'd have never really gotten to know him ... and that would really have been a big loss in my book." He hugged Kurt tighter, making him smile.

"So you two are really together now?"

"Yes," Kurt said, smiling wider.

"I'm glad," Dave said smiling more broadly. "You deserve it."

"Well, if you guys are done making blubbering idiots out of all of us," Deen said producing a box of tissues from his desk drawer, taking one and wiping his eyes. "Some of us have papers to grade."

The boys all laughed coming over and taking some of the tissues.

"Who's Derrick by the way?" Blaine asked.

"Um," Dave said clearing his throat. "He's Mr. D's brother. He's gay too. We've been talking."

"Uh, would that be his younger brother by chance?" Kurt said mischievously as he tossed his tissue into the trash can.

"Yeah, why?"

"So, you speak from experience when you say that little brothers get more action?" Kurt said grinning.

Dave sputtered as he burst out laughing. Deen just cleared his throat.

"Okay I'm definitely missing something," Blaine said, "but I'm not asking."

Kurt looked at his watch. "Oh, my, I've got to get to practice!"

"Yeah, I should get going too," Dave said.

"Thanks, Dave," Kurt said once again offering Dave his hand. Dave took it giving it a squeeze. "See ya!" Kurt said over his shoulder as he grabbed Blaine's hand and jogged down the hallway. It was reminiscent of the first time they'd met on the grand stairway at Dalton.

Dave stayed just long enough to thank Deen once more then left himself.

* * *

><p>Sam rounded the corner of the science hall just in time to see Kurt racing out of Mr. Deen's room with Blaine in tow.<p>

_"Oh thank God, he's got someone with him_," Sam thought. He was supposed to be Kurt's escort to practice today, but he was held up talking to his English teacher about some ideas to aid with his dyslexia.

His relief was suddenly replaced by fear and anger as he saw Karofsky exit the same room. "_SHIT!"_

Sam sprinted down the hallway, but lost traction just as he went to pounce on Dave. He careened into the wall of lockers behind where Dave had been standing while Dave was catapulted against the row of lockers on the opposite side of the hall.

Sam quickly recovered and ran over to pin Dave against the lockers, his fist drawn back ready for round two of the fight that had begun in the boys' locker room so many months back. "What the hell did you do?" Sam yelled. "If you hurt him so help me God!"

Dave said nothing, did nothing. It was almost unnerving. He wasn't even moving to defending himself.

"What the hell?" Deen said exiting his classroom. "Sam!"

Sam slowly released Dave, confused. "I saw Kurt running; then I saw Karofsky."

"It's okay, I deserved that," Dave said.

"No you didn't," Deen said. "Dave, you need to stop all this crap! Tell him what just happened."

Dave stood motionless.

"Dave tell him."

Sam looked between them obviously confused.

"I ... I just apologized to Kurt."

Sam's eyed widened. "You... Uh ... I ... I'm sorry. You did?"

Dave just nodded.

"Dave," Deen said moving closer to him. "All of the self-destructive behavior has to stop. You did something good ... you did the right thing."

Dave looked as if he were about to say something then stopped.

"You decided to make it right and stop beating up others, but things are never truly going to be right until you stop beating yourself up too," Deen said.

"Uh," said Sam, "if you really apologized ... then he's right. You did the right thing. Dude, I'm really sorry. It just scared me when I saw him running away."

"He was late for practice," Dave said plainly.

Sam looked at his watch. "Damn, yeah I am too."

"You're bleeding," Dave said pointed to a small cut above Sam's right eye. "You slammed into those lockers pretty hard."

"Great," Deen said with a sigh. "The nurse was gone already wasn't she?"

"Yeah, her office was closed when I went by earlier," Dave said.

"Get in here," Deen said, motioning them both into his classroom. "I should have a band-aid in my office."

The boys stood by Deen's desk as he went to retrieve the first aid kit from his office.

Dave grabbed a few paper towels from the lab bench and offered them to Sam. Sam dabbed at the cut but merely ended up smearing the blood down his cheek.

"Here, let me help," Dave said. He grabbed some more paper towels wetting a few under the bench's tap. Carefully taking Sam's chin in his hand, Dave wiped away the blood that had trickled down Sam's face then gently wiped at the area around the cut.

"Ah," Sam hissed.

"Sorry," Dave said frowning and quickly withdrawing his hand.

"It's okay," Sam said. "It's my own stupidity for using my fists and not my head."

"Well you did use your head ... you just lost to the locker."

Sam laughed, eliciting a small one from Dave as well.

"Alright, here we go," Deen said. He delicately unwrapped the band-aid and smeared antibiotic ointment over the pad before carefully placing it over the cut. He looked at Sam's eyes, first shading one and then the other. "Well you look okay. I'm sure you've taken enough hits at football practice to know what to look for, so keep an eye out tonight." Sam nodded. "Now, if you guys are all done. I've got stuff to do. Please stay out of trouble."

Sam thanked him, and both boys said goodbye.

In the hall, Sam stopped Dave. "Karofsky, I meant it. You did the right thing. You made me proud to call you a teammate again." He offered Dave his hand.

"Thanks," Dave said as he shook his hand and then the two went their separate ways.

Sam paused briefly to look back before rounding the corner. He smiled then continued on for the practice room.

* * *

><p><strong>End notes:<strong>

Thanks again, hope you enjoyed it. Let me know one way or the other.


	6. 06  Band Aid

**Author's Note**:

Okay, I'm feeling generous. A few more of you blessed me with some reviews, and that last episode of the show ("Rumors") had some great moments for Sam - he's such a sweetheart. By the way, I knew Dave had a thing for Sam, why else would he be checking out his ass in "Born This Way"? ;-)

Anyhoo, I usually update on Saturday, but I'll send this one out on Friday to share my good mood. Here ya go!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**06 - Band-Aid**

* * *

><p>"Guys, can we talk?" Blaine asked.<p>

"Sure," Wes said. He and David led Blaine to a table in the corner of the Dalton cafeteria.

"I've been thinking over the past week or so," Blaine said, playing with his cup.

Wes and David just sat quietly, looking at him expectantly.

"I ... guys..." Blaine shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Guys, I'm thinking about leaving Dalton." He waited for them to say something, but they just waited. "I'm thinking about transferring to McKinley with Kurt." He waited a little bit longer. "Are you going to say anything?"

"We were wondering how long it would take you," Wes said, before taking a sip of his latte.

"Yeah, watching you two together was getting to us all," David said, shaking his head.

Blaine looked a little hurt.

"I mean, looking at the two of you together was bad," David started. "Seeing you without him is worse."

"Even just when you're talking about him," Wes said.

"You're eyes just ... sparkle," David said. "Wes doesn't even look like that when he's with Diana."

"You're just all sappy," Wes said looking at David with a grin. David nodded at him. "David doesn't act like that when he's talking to Sara."

David shook his head. "You're making us all look bad."

"And feel bad," Wes nodded.

Blaine broke a smile and laughed softly. "So you're okay with it?"

"We're not gonna say that we like it," David said. "I mean, first we lose Kurt and now you. Our prospects for any competition wins are quickly evaporating."

"Blaine, I know you didn't tell us everything that happened to you before you transferred," Wes said, now more serious. "I know there's a lot of shit that went down that you never mentioned." Blaine arched an eyebrow at Wes' use of profanity, as he wasn't usually the type. "I know there's heartache there that goes beyond anything you may be able to put into words. So you deserve to be happy, and Kurt seems to do that for you."

"We're gonna miss the hell out of you, man," David said, "but Wes is right. You deserve it." Blaine looked down wiping at his eyes. "You know Jeff's gonna miss you a lot. For some reason the kid looks up to you."

"No accounting for taste, huh?" Blaine finally managed.

"Nope," David said.

"You do have to promise one thing though," Wes said.

"Two actually," David said.

"First you have to come back and jam with us from time to time," David said. "And it wouldn't hurt if you brought Kurt with you, too."

"You also have to come help sing us out at graduation," Wes said smiling.

"You got it," Blaine said smiling. He stood and hugged them both.

"Come on," Wes said. "We'll go help you break it to the others."

"Most of them have been waiting for it since Kurt left though," David said as they walked toward the door.

"I am going to miss you guys."

* * *

><p>A few days later Sam was on 'guard duty' again. He leaned against the row of lockers waiting for Kurt so that they could walk to practice together. Kurt had explained to the others that Dave had apologized, but they remained in protective mode.<p>

Kurt had just closed his locker when he looked up to find Dave closing his across the hall. Dave smiled and nodded toward him. He smiled back and then the two headed in their own directions.

Sam noted the exchange. "Kurt you have got to be way stronger than me."

Kurt looked at him curiously.

"With all that Karofsky put you through, I just don't know if I could have forgiven him that easily."

"There were some ... extenuating circumstances," Kurt said after some careful thought.

"Okay," Sam said not looking very convinced by the explanation. "Well, if you're good then I'm good, I guess."

"I should thank you," Kurt said.

"Why?"

"Well this is the second shiner you've gotten on my behalf," Kurt said smiling at him.

"What?" Sam said with genuine surprise. He had told everyone that he'd smacked himself while opening his locker, intentionally leaving any mention of Dave out of it.

"Dave told me," Kurt said. "Besides, the lockers open the wrong way. You would have had to have slammed your head in your locker for the cut and bruising to be on that side." Kurt grinned.

Sam winced at the stupidity of the failed attempt at a cover up, still, no one else had pointed out the oversight. "Well I figured I'd do better with a matched set." They both laughed and Sam thought for a moment. "Dave? When did you start calling him Dave?"

"We both kind of decided that neither of us really liked the old Karofsky, so we figured that Dave would be a fresh start."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Sam said after giving it some thought. "You know, he is a pretty cool guy once you get past that attitude of his. Extenuating circumstances, huh?"

Kurt shrugged and nodded.

"Oh well, let's get to class."

* * *

><p>Blaine smiled as Kurt entered the passenger side of his car. The two shared a quick kiss as Kurt pulled on his seatbelt, and then Blaine started driving.<p>

"Blaine, are you sure about this?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Blaine said smiling at him.

"I just want you to be sure you're sure."

"That's why we're doing this shadow visit thing, remember? Besides," he shrugged, "like I told you, it's been eating at me that I'm a year behind because I ran from my problems. You inspire me so much, Kurt, on so many different levels. Seeing you face your fear and diving back into it..." Blaine sighed. "Plus, tuition at Dalton is steep and I've been feeling guilty about putting my parents to the financial hardship. Besides, it's greener; we can carpool and save loads of gas." He sighed again. "Damn it, I miss you. Okay, there, I said it."

Kurt smiled broadly, as Blaine glanced over at him. At the next stop light, he leaned over and gave Blaine another kiss. "Hey, take the next left. It'll bring you straight around to the student lot instead of going all the way around the school."

Blaine put on his turn signal and entered the left turn lane. "I'm just glad that I live close enough to Lima to be able to choose McKinley as my school. There's no way I'd want to transfer back to my old school!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Dave," Sam called as he came jogging toward Dave.<p>

"Oh, hey, Sam," Dave said smiling. "Not many people call me that."

Sam shrugged. "Kurt said you preferred it, so I figured I'd oblige ... if it's alright."

"Karofsky hasn't been very nice to people, so I figured he needed a time out," Dave said. "So, please, yeah, call me Dave."

"Well, I'd just been noticing that Dave hadn't been having much fun lately," Sam said. "You're keeping to yourself a lot and ... well, how 'bout some lunch?"

"Really?"

"Hey, don't look so shocked. I ... what you did ... taking a look at yourself, figuring out that you'd done something wrong and then making it right... That takes guts ... that's the type of person I'd like as a friend."

Dave blushed.

"Well, how 'bout it?" Sam said, smiling brightly.

"Sure, just let me dump my stuff in my locker."

* * *

><p>Blaine had been enrolled at McKinley for about a week. He had settled into his classes fairly easily, and had been welcomed into New Directions with open arms. They had offered to forgo the usual audition, since they'd all heard his solos at both Sectionals and Regionals, but he had insisted. For his audition, he chose a duet with Rachel, telling them that he wanted to see if it sounded better sober. It had.<p>

Most of the others were already in the practice room as Blaine and Kurt walked down the hall. Suddenly they were both shoved against the lockers.

"Hello lovebirds!" It was a gang of hockey players. "We figured it was about time for your welcoming toast." They all held slushee cups filled to capacity.

"Guys this is really getting ridiculous!" Kurt yelled. "At least the football players had the decency to hit and run."

"Oh shut up you little homo!" the tallest one said.

"Leave them alone Tyner!" Dave yelled shoving his way past the gang to stand in front of Kurt.

"Well if it isn't the wannabe," Tyner said.

"Wannabe nothing," Dave said, rolling his eyes. "I quit the hockey team for something better, namely the championship football team."

Kurt arched an eyebrow. He noticed the other glee kids crowding through the doorway, and saw Rachel run down the hall toward the auditorium.

"This is between us and the ladies Karofsky," Tyner said, to a chorus of "yeah's" from his cohorts.

Dave was breathing heavy now, his jaw clenched tightly. "Just lay off, Tyner."

"Dave," Kurt said from behind him. "It's okay."

"See the ladies are thirsty Karofsky."

Dave glanced back to Kurt. "No, it's not. Not anymore." He turned back to glare at Tyner. "If you're gonna throw then throw, otherwise shut up and fuck off."

"Ladies first," Tyner said. "These are for the queers; we'll go get you some afterwards.

That was it. Dave felt something inside snap. Before it would have meant his fist would fly, but not this time. "Well if you're starting with the queers ... then ... go ahead and start with me."

Kurt's eyes grew wide and Blaine let out a quiet, "Shit!"

Most of the hockey players lowered their cups out of pure shock, but Tyner held fast squinting at Dave. "Here ya go then, fag!" He slowly dumped the cup over Dave's head.

Icy blue liquid ran down Dave's hair and face. Kurt quickly pressed his hand against the collar of Dave's letter jacket, preventing it from running inside and down his back. Dave's fists balled as he shuddered from the cold.

Before anyone else knew what was happening Mr. Deen had hold of the back of Tyner's letter jacket. Mr. Schuester slammed a large trash can onto the floor.

"That's enough!" Schuester yelled.

"More than enough," Deen said, almost growling.

"Cups in the can, NOW!" Schuester barked.

"Will?" Deen said.

"I got it," Schuester said.

"Okay, everyone in a letter jacket, except the three behind me," Deen said, indicating Finn, Puck and Sam, "follow me. We're going to see Principal Figgins." A few started to protest that they hadn't actually thrown their slushees. "NOW!" he yelled.

Sam walked over to Dave. "Are you alright?"

Dave ground his teeth, fighting a shiver. He wasn't sure if it was the ice or the realization of what he'd just done sinking in. He didn't remember the last slushee being anywhere near this cold, so he was beginning to suspect the latter.

"Extenuating circumstances, huh?" Sam said looking at Kurt. Kurt gave him a crooked half smile.

"Why don't you guys go help him get cleaned up," Schuester said.

"Yeah, come on," Blaine said grabbing Dave's shoulder and turning him in the direction of the boy's locker room.

Sam turned and retrieved Dave's backpack from where he had dropped it and followed them.

"The rest of you get back to class or wherever you're supposed to be," Schuester said.

The glee kids filed back into the practice room, all of them in a daze.

"Did what I think happened, really just happen?" Puck asked as he sunk onto one of the chairs.

"If you mean somebody standing up to a slushee ambush, yeah," Mercedes said. "And if you're talking about Karofsky just telling everybody that he was gay, yeah I think that just happened too."

"That's what I saw," Lauren said, looking at the Cadbury Egg she held in her hand then putting it back away. For once her heart just wasn't in it.

"Did you know anything about this?" Rachel asked Finn.

"No, not a clue," Finn said, shaking his head. "Mr. Schue?"

Schuester sat down on his stool shaking his head. "I think we we're all in the dark on this one."

* * *

><p>In the boys locker room Blaine and Kurt led Dave to one of the benches. Sam grabbed several towels from the stack. He placed Dave's backpack under the bench beside him and offered him one of the towels.<p>

"Wow," Blaine said breaking the silence.

"Are you alright Dave?" Kurt asked.

Dave sat stunned.

"Dave, man," Sam said, "that took massive guts. I ... wow."

"Dave, come on, man, say something, anything," Blaine said.

"Band-aid," Dave said, beginning to towel off his face.

"I beg your pardon?" Kurt asked.

"Band-aid," Dave said again. "I couldn't just stand by and watch anymore. I had to do something. Then when it came down to it, I remembered Derrick saying something about making it quick, like ripping off a band-aid."

"I'm not exactly sure that's what he had in mind," Blaine said hazarding a small chuckle.

Dave laughed dryly as well. "I just couldn't stand it anymore. I can't do this anymore. I can't pretend anymore." He absently toweled his hair then the front of his shirt. "The mask is just too tight; I can't breathe anymore."

Blaine and Kurt both looked at him knowingly. Sam stared in awe.

"Let's get you out of those wet things," Kurt said. "Do you have a change in your locker?"

"Uh, yeah," Dave said removing his jacket and shirt. He kicked off his shoes as Kurt went over to his locker to grab something for him to change into. Placing his socks in his shoes, Dave stood and slid off his jeans. Taking the towel that Sam offered, he went into the showers.

Blaine and Kurt sat on the bench leaning against one another, while Sam leaned against the lockers.

Kurt watched Sam as he stared off into space. "Are you alright, Sam?"

Sam started back to reality, at least part way. "Yeah. I think he's the bravest person I've ever met."

Blaine shrugged, before leaning his head on Kurt's shoulder. The three enjoyed a comfortable silence for several moments before Blaine said, "Maybe I should just bite the bullet; slushee myself and get it over with. What's your favorite flavor?"

Kurt arched an eyebrow, "Why? Do you want me to lick it off?"

Blaine smirked then cleared his throat, shrugging. It started slowly, and then the laughter built. The tension was officially cut.

Coach Beiste came in as Dave exited the showers, a towel wrapped around his waist. She followed him over to the bench where the others were. "Hey guys," she said to the others, then turned to Dave. "I heard what happened. Are you doing okay kid?"

"Not the first time I've been slusheed," Dave said, still looking blank.

"I'm thinking it's the first time you've come out though," she said kindly.

"Oh that," he said absently as he sat down on the bench. "Yeah, that was the first time I ... said it." He glanced over at Kurt who patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"You got guts kid, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," she told him.

Deen walked in. "Everything okay, Shan?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so Danny," she said smiling at him. "I'll let you get dressed," she told Dave then walked around to the other side of the bank of lockers. She turned to Deen and poked him in the chest. "Mr. Hold-Out."

He looked at her innocently.

"So, how long have you known?" she asked.

He shrugged.

The coach considered for a minute. "The baseball field... I wondered why you had to go all the way to the top of the bleachers to discuss extra credit."

He half smiled.

"Ya big softy!" She said, draping an arm across his shoulder and kissing him on the forehead.

Dave came round the lockers followed by the other three.

"Are you alright?" Deen asked him. Coach Beiste removed her arm from his shoulder as he stepped forward toward Dave.

"I need to tell my parents ... before they hear it from somewhere else." Dave's voice was quiet and even. He seemed numb.

Deen nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Dave nodded. "Please."

"Do you want some more company?" Kurt asked. "We can stay outside. Just be there so you're sure that someone's in your corner."

"Help you celebrate ... or commiserate ... whichever the case may be," Blaine said.

He looked at them both. "Yeah, I think I could use that."

"I should probably excuse myself," Sam said sadly. "I'm not exactly a member of the club." He walked over to Dave and offered his hand. When Dave took it, he pulled him into a half hug. "Good luck man."

"Thanks," Dave said then watched him go.

"Come on, I'll drive," Deen said.

"Good luck," said Coach Beiste as she watched them go.

* * *

><p><strong>End notes:<strong>

Thanks again, hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to let me know one way or the other.

By the way, I'm just going to flat out apologize if my characterization of Blaine seems a little more like Darren. I'm beginning to think that Blaine Anderson and Darren Criss are either identical, but opposite, twins or some sort of "Jekyll and Hyde". I can't be the only one to have noticed that they look the same, but different. Darren's hair naturally parts (if you can call it that) on the right through his curls, while Blaine's parts on the left and is always slicked down with the gel. Blaine is more stayed, but he's got that mischievous yet not quite readable grin plastered on, while Darren is always boisterous, on the verge of bouncy. I just don't think either of them could stand to be in a room filled with tension without trying to break it. Jekyll and Hyde I tell you! :-)


	7. 07  Catharsis

**Author's Note**:

Hot Dang! (Yeah, I'm letting my country boy roots show.) We had several reviews, and a BOATLOAD of hits and subscriptions from the last chapter. That plus an excellent episode this week, has me feeling good again this week, so I'm inclined to share the good mood.

I'm shutting up now so y'all can get on with it!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**07 - Catharsis**

* * *

><p>"Mom ... dad?" Dave called as he entered the house. "I've brought some company home."<p>

"We're in the kitchen sweetie!" his mother answered.

Dave dropped his gym bag and backpack under the hall table by the door before leading Deen into the kitchen.

"Dan? What are you doing here?" Mr. Karofsky said standing and offering his hand to Deen.

Deen took and shook it. "Paul ... Julie," he said, turning and shaking Mrs. Karofsky's hand.

"Mom, dad, can we talk a minute?" Dave said.

"Sure, sweetie, just let me get this casserole into the oven," Mrs. Karofsky said.

"What's going on Davey? He's not in any more trouble is he?" Mr. Karofsky asked looking over to Deen.

"No, Paul, it's nothing like that."

"Let's go into the living room," Mrs. Karofsky said after setting the oven timer.

Deen took a seat in the overstuffed chair he was offered, and Dave sat on the one beside him. Mr. and Mrs. Karofsky then sat on the sofa across the coffee table.

"So what can we do for you, Dan," Mrs. Karofsky said.

Deen looked to Dave.

Dave cleared his throat, or at least tried to. He felt as if there were a huge lump of mud lodged in his throat that could suffocate him at any time now. "M...mom, dad I ... I need to tell you something."

"Okay, sweetie, go ahead," Mrs. Karofsky said, the concern growing on her face.

"What is it son? You didn't get into another fight did you?" Mr. Karofsky said.

"No, dad, it's nothing like that," Dave said. "_It's worse,"_ Dave thought, then admonished himself. He was trembling now, his breathing fast. He sounded as though he might hyperventilate.

"Just breathe, Dave," Deen said reassuringly.

"Davey, you're starting to scare us," his mother said, concern written across her face.

"Davey, it's okay, son," his father said. "Whatever it is you need to tell us, just spit it out. It can't be all that bad. I mean if it were anything that bad there'd be a police officer here with you, not one of your teachers." His father tried to smile, but his concern was fast out pacing his joviality.

Dave tried to calm himself. He took a couple of slow deep breaths. "_Band-aid."_ He took a third slow breath and said, "Mom, dad, I'm gay."

It was low, barely audible. Deen wasn't sure they would have heard it; he barely had and he was sitting the closest. Still he examined the two people seated across from him, looking for any reaction.

"What Davey?" his mother asked.

Dave swallowed hard, still staring at the same spot on the carpet below the coffee table. "I'm ... gay."

His mother's eyes grew wide. "I ... are you sure, son?"

Dave nodded, still unable to look up.

"I don't understand, David," his father said, his eyebrows furrowed. "We were just in the principal's office. You were just expelled for picking on a gay kid; for threatening to kill him!" Tears began to roll down Dave's face. "David, how could you do that to someone if you were like them?" His father continued. "Why?"

"Paul," Mrs. Karofsky said, placing a hand on her husband's arm.

Dave was silent, tears streaming down his face.

"David?" His father said. "Could you at least look at us, please?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Dave yelled through his tears, finally looking up at his father. "Don't you think I've wondered myself? I've hated myself ever since I started having these thoughts, these feelings... I ... they were wrong, they were..." Dave balled up his fists, consciously trying to rein himself in. He took a deep breath. "I guess I was jealous. Kurt was out ... everyone knew ... no one cared. But me ... I could never do that ... I could never have that."

"But why David? Why couldn't you?" his mother said.

Dave glared at her through his tears, his fist still balled.

Suddenly her face dropped, she visibly winced as the realization hit. "Oh my God ... Davey." She looked at her husband. Then it registered on his face as well.

"Oh, God." Mr. Karofsky said, visibly deflating. "David ... your grandfather and your uncle are idiots."

"You never said much to counter anything they said," Dave said shaking his head.

"No, no we didn't," said Mrs. Karofsky.

"I guess we just never thought it would do any good," said Mr. Karofsky.

"We never imagined that it would affect you though," his mother said. "Certainly not like this."

"Every time we're together: 'those damn fags caused this', the fuckin' queers did that', 'guess that's what we get having a nigger for a president', 'we should just kill 'em all' ... that's not supposed to have an effect? What was it supposed to do?"

Both parents winced at the words they had heard so many times before being spouted by their relatives, tears in both their eyes.

"Dave," Deen said quietly.

Dave looked over at his teacher and sighed.

"I'm sorry," Dave said. "I just felt so alone. I didn't think you'd love me anymore. And you don't, do you?"

His mother stood and came over leaning down to give him a hug. She kissed him on the top of the head. "You're our son Davey; there is nothing in this world that could ever make us stop loving you."

"She's right son," his father said also coming over to him. He held out his hand and helped Dave up, pulling him into a hug.

Dave was sobbing now, but this time you could sense his relief.

Mr. Karofsky turned to Deen. "I'm sorry, Dan, I know this is going to come out sounding rude, and it's truly not meant to be. Why are you here?"

"Moral support," Deen offered with a shrug, as he wiped the tears from his own eyes.

"His brother ... Derrick ... he's gay too. We've been talking ... his brother and me. I asked him to come so that I didn't chicken out."

"Well, I'm definitely glad you told us, Davey, but why was it so important now?" Mrs. Karofsky asked.

"I sort of ... came out to the whole school today. I just wanted to make sure you heard it from me before someone else told you."

"The whole school?" His father said. "You don't do anything small do you?"

He finally got a chuckle out of Dave. "No, sir," Dave said wiping at his eyes.

"Actually, it kind of came up as he was standing up for Kurt Hummel and his boyfriend," Deen interjected.

"Kurt Hummel, the boy you were expelled for threatening?" Mr. Karofsky asked, surprised.

Dave nodded.

"He apologized to him about a week ago," Deen said.

Both of his parents looked at Dave with pride.

"Now, that's the Davey that I remember," his father said.

The timer in the kitchen started beeping. "That'll be my casserole," Mrs. Karofsky said smiling. "Would you care to stay for dinner, Dan?"

"No thank you," Deen said.

She went into the kitchen to turn off the timer and remove the pan from the oven. "Did you know there were two young men waiting outside?" she called from the other room.

"That's Kurt and his boyfriend," Dave told her.

"Second string moral support," Deen said to Mr. Karofsky. They shared a smile. "If they're outside the car, Kurt will be the tall one pacing and Blaine will be the one trying to calm him down."

Mrs. Karofsky looked out the kitchen window again before reentering the living room. "Yes, the tall thin one is pacing, the curly haired one is leaning against the car watching him."

"Curly hair?" Deen said then shrugged.

"Sweetie, why don't you see if they'd like to stay for dinner?"

Dave sniffed the air. "Smells like chicken spaghetti?"

"That's right," she said smiling. "I know you love it."

Dave sort of scrunched his face, "If you only made one pan it's not going to be nearly enough for three teenage boys. Remember the last time Azimio was here, he almost finished off one whole pan on his own."

"Now, that is true," Mr. Karofsky said.

"The boys did say something about celebrating if everything went well," Deen said.

Dave's eyes sparkled slightly as he smiled. Mr. Karofsky took note of it and said, "Why don't you go ahead and spend some time with your friends."

"Are you sure?" Dave asked.

"Chicken spaghetti is always better the second day," his mom said.

Dave smiled and hugged her, then turned to hug his father.

As they headed for the door, Mr. Karofsky pulled Deen aside. "Dan, I'd like to thank you ... and your brother," he said quietly. Deen tried to say it wasn't necessary, but Mr. Karofsky wouldn't let him. "I've heard the horror stories of kids like Davey, who ... well let's just say, took the easy way out. Thank you for not letting my son become one of those kids."

Deen nodded and shook his hand. "I remember what it was like for my brother, and I wouldn't wish that on any kid." Mrs. Karofsky gave him a hug then watched as he followed Dave out to the car.

"Well?" Kurt asked, running up to Dave, Blaine following close behind.

Dave tried to maintain a sad face, but he couldn't manage it. He began grinning from ear to ear. "Yes!" they both chorused, before pouncing on him, enveloping him in a huge hug. Deen couldn't help but smile.

"Who's up for ice cream or something?" Deen said leading the way to the car.

* * *

><p>They had just left Dave's subdivision when they heard a buzzing from the floor of the car between the front seats. Deen rummaged around as best he could without taking his eyes off the road. Finally finding his cell he glanced at the caller ID. "Oh, boy, here's trouble," he said smiling. He flicked on the phone and held it to his ear. "Hey man, what's..." He jerked it away from his ear suddenly holding it out in the air.<p>

"... DON'T YOU HEY MAN ME! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" even Kurt and Blaine could hear it in the back seat.

"Der..." Deen tried holding it back to his ear, but couldn't keep it there. He tilted the phone so that his mouth was near the microphone. "Derrick! DER-RICK! Dude, I'm trying to drive, man, stop yellin' in my ear!" He managed to flip on the speakerphone and sat it in the cup holder so that he could put both hands back on the wheel.

"Sorry, bro," Derrick said, now calmer. "I got done with a shoot and checked my messages. I had a text from Dave. Dude, he said he'd come out ... to everyone at school! Then he said that he had to go tell his folks. I've been calling him, but there's no answer. Danny, the last one I got was 'it'll be over tonight one way or the other'. I'm calling him, and you, and nothin'..."

"Wait, I sent you another one after that," Dave said.

"DAVE?"

"Hey, Derrick," Dave said smiling.

"Oh thank God, you guys had me scared shitless! I was literally trying to decide whether to head for home or the airport."

"Sorry, dude," Dave said. "I did send you another one saying that D was going to come with me to see my folks."

Derrick blew out a breath. "Well I didn't get that last one."

"Sorry, my phone kinda got wet and it was acting up."

"Okay, now that my hearts beating again," Derrick said, "how'd it go?"

"Great, man," Dave said. "We're cool, it's all good."

"And now I can breathe again," Derrick said, laughing.

"I'm taking the guys out for ice cream or something," Deen said.

"Guys?"

"Blaine and Kurt are with us too," Deen explained.

"Oh... HI GUYS!" Derrick said, causing them to laugh. "Wait, Danny ... they all have to be at least like sixteen or seventeen, right?

"Yeah. Why?" Deen said, suspicious.

"Well, I'm no expert, but ice cream is for ten year olds not seventeen year olds."

"What do you want me to do, take them to a bar and buy 'em a drink?"

There was a pause on the other end, then, "Dave are you in the front seat?"

"Yeah, Derrick, why?"

"Please smack my brother in the back of the head at the next traffic light."

All three teens snorted with laughter. "Uh, I really shouldn't. Dude, he's my teacher."

"Yeah, well one, you're not in school at the moment and two, it's for me and I'm his brother."

"I like this guy," Blaine said from the back seat.

Deen glared back at him through the rear view mirror. "Okay, okay. First of all, he's in California and I'm here, second, we do have a 'no pass, no play' policy and conduct is part of your grade. Besides, I give up. He's right, ice cream is so middle school, you guys choose."

"Oh, oh, make him take you to Kewpee Burgers or somewhere good like that! Man I should 'ave gotten one of those while I was home last month."

"Bro, you are not Zac Efron, nor are you Seventeen Again!"

"I know. I'm cuter than Zac!" You could hear the grin in his voice.

"He may have you there..." Dave said with a chuckle.

"Do not encourage him!" said Deen.

"I don't need encouragement. I have covers to prove it."

"He does have a point." Dave said laughing.

"Love you, bro, but you're breaking up," Deen said, grabbing a candy wrapper from the coin tray and crinkling it in front of the phone.

"Love you too ... Dave. Hey, ditch the stick in the mud and call or text me later!"

"Hanging up now..."

"Love you, Danny."

"Love you too, Derrick." He rolled his eyes as he hit the end call button.

"Okay, he is a trip!" Blaine said laughing.

"A trip maybe, but cuter than Zac Efron ... I seriously doubt it," Kurt said.

"Actually, he does have the magazine covers to prove it," Dave said shrugging.

"What?" Blaine and Kurt both said.

"He's a model, he sent me a link to his portfolio, and he's done several magazine covers."

"Uh, which portfolio?" Deen said cutting Dave a sideways glance.

"The nice one, not the naughty one," Dave replied, then looked back into the back seat. "His words, not mine."

"Ah," Kurt said.

"So he's really hot?" Blaine said.

"Hell yes!" Dave said.

"Hello, in the car!" Deen said. "That's my baby brother you're talking about."

"He is not a baby anymore. Besides you know it's true," Dave said.

"Perhaps, but you'll never hear me admit that anywhere that it'll ever get back to him. He has a big enough ego." The boys all laughed.

"He knows you're proud of him anyway," Dave said smiling.

"I know ... but we're brothers. It's somewhere in the rule book that we can't acknowledge it in public."

"There's a rule book?" said Kurt. "I need one of those to help me deal with Finn."

"Yeah, there was, but then we lost it, so we're goin' from memory," Deen said shaking his head. They all shared another laugh as they pulled into the Kewpee Hamburger joint.

* * *

><p>Sam had just pulled up to the drive thru window and was paying the lady when behind her he saw Dave at the inside counter filling his cup. Sam waited for his food and thanked the lady, then quickly went over and parked. Getting out of his jeep, he jogged to the building's side door. Once inside, he glanced around, finding the four of them seated at a table near the back.<p>

"Hi guys," Sam said.

There was a chorus of "hey's" and "hello's". "What are you doing here, Sam?" Dave said, smiling up at him.

"I was at the drive thru and saw you through the window," Sam said pointing his thumb over his shoulder toward the door. "Uh, I've been worried about you since you left. I was just wondering how it went."

"It went great thanks," Dave said smiling from ear to ear. "They were really understanding. Here sit down and join us." He pulled out the chair beside him.

"Uh, hold up," Deen said. "Didn't you say you'd just gone through the drive thru?" Sam nodded. "Then how 'bout you go get your food and come back and join us."

Sam smiled and said, "Good idea."

They spent an easy hour just talking, laughing and gorging themselves like only teenage boys can. Well four of them at any rate.

"Well guys," Deen said, gathering their garbage onto a couple of trays. "Some of us have homework to do, and some of us have homework to grade. I think I have a quiz to write up, too."

"Aww," they chorused like kindergarteners.

"Hey you don't have to make up that quiz!" Blaine said, pasting on his most charming grin. "Even teachers deserve a break for good deeds." The others nodded.

"Sorry, but them's the breaks," he said.

"It was worth a try baby," Kurt said, giving Blaine a peck on the cheek.

Blaine helped Deen dispose of the garbage as Kurt gathered their jackets and bags.

Their stuff all together, they walked out to their cars.

On their way out, Sam stopped Dave. "Hey, Dave, you wanna maybe come by my place tomorrow? We could play video games or something."

"Are you sure?" Dave asked. "I mean ... are you sure that you still want to hang out with me now that I'm out."

Sam looked at him. "Sure, why not. You're still the same guy right? I liked you before, why wouldn't I like you now ... I just know a little more about you now."

"Aren't you afraid that people will talk?"

Sam thought about it a minute. "I might have before. I mean I was so worried about what everyone else thought that I quit acting like ... me; I even bleached my hair and stuff. I just can't keep that up ... either they're going to like me or they're not. Besides, after what you did today in front of everyone ... actually standing up and owning who you are. I was just so impressed. You're definitely the type of person that I want to be friends with."

Dave smiled through his blush. "Thanks. And ... I'd love to. I'll meet you after practice?"

"Cool!"

* * *

><p><strong>End notes:<strong>

Thanks again, hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to let me know one way or the other.


	8. 08  Boiling Point

**Author's Note**:

Thanks for all the love. I'm trying to respond to everyone who leaves me a review or a message about the story. I figure that if I'm asking you to talk to me I should at least talk back. ;) Please try to remember to log in and sign your review so I can reach you!

I have to admit I definitely get a high when you review, since it means you like the story enough to share your opinion. I'm also getting a super buzz, though, just from the fact that, even though you may not be reviewing, there were already at least 80 of you that have read through Chapter 7 - or at least read Chapter 7, 33 of you who've added it to your alerts, and 8 of you who have made it a favorite. YEA!

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**08 - Boiling Point**

* * *

><p>"Dave, can we talk?" Sam asked as Dave was closing his locker.<p>

"Sure, Sam," Dave answered, smiling.

Sam led him into the empty science lab across from his locker. "I just wanted to say that I've enjoyed hanging out with you."

"Thanks, I've enjoyed it too," Dave said. "It would have been pretty lonely without it. My usual group of friends has been avoiding me lately, even Azimio."

"I thought you said that he told you he was cool with everything," Sam said frowning."

"I did, and he said we were cool, but some of the guys started asking him if we'd ever messed around and shit since we hung out all the time. I guess I can't really blame him for not wanting to hang out anymore."

Sam grasped his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. At least it's been better than how I pictured it in my head so many times," Dave said with a crooked smile.

Sam stood there, his hand slid from Dave's shoulder to his forearm. He clearly had something else that he wanted to say.

Mr. Deen cleared his throat behind them. Sam removed his hand and quickly spun around. "You're tardy guys," Deen said. "You know we meet in the classroom for role before labs."

"Sorry, we didn't hear the bell ring," Sam said.

"That's okay, just grab a station, looks like you guys are partners by default, everyone else has already paired up."

They sat down at the nearest work station as the rest of the class filed in from the adjoining classroom. Blaine and Kurt saw them and came over smiling.

"Hey guys," Kurt said as he and Blaine put their stuff down on the opposite side of the lab bench. He began fumbling around in his bag, but Blaine nudged him, producing his pen from his pocket. "You're a magician!"

"Actually, I'm a wizard, but I didn't need magic for this one," Blaine said, smirking. "I saw you drop it as you picked up your bag."

"Okay, people, settle down," Deen said from the front of the room. "We've got a lot of stuff to get through and this lab is probably the most dangerous one we'll be doing this year."

"More dangerous than that one where we were spinning those weights on strings two inches from our faces?" Artie asked.

"Yes, we'll be using boiling water this time," Deen said picking up a strange looking copper kettle with a tripod base from the nearest lab bench. "Also, thanks to our championship football and cheer teams, plus our soon to be championship show choir," the glee kids all beamed at one another, Mike and Puck even high-fived one another, "we didn't have the funding for the electronic data gathering equipment I wanted to get, so we'll still be using old school glass thermometers."

"Sorry," Rachel said quietly.

Deen leaned closer to her and said, "It's okay, I'd rather you guys get to go to New York than have new thermometers any day of the week." He winked at her as she smiled broadly.

"Now, I don't have enough of these alcohol thermometers to go around," he held up a glass tube filled with red liquid. "A few of you will be using these old mercury models." He held up another one filled with silver liquid.

"What's the difference?" Sam asked.

"One's got alcohol in it and the other one has mercury in it, Evans, ya dumb ass!" one of the football players yelled.

"Great question Sam," Deen said, addressing Sam and ignoring the rude comment. "If the red ones break we're out a thermometer, but we're okay. On the other hand, if a silver one breaks ... we have to evacuate the room, call in a hazmat team and we're doing book work rather than fun labs for the next two weeks while it gets cleaned up."

"Yeah, mercury poisoning, ya dumb ass!" Puck said, glaring at the person from before.

"That's enough guys. Rachel, would you pass these out please," Deen said handing her a stack of handouts. "Tina, could you grab the box of rulers from the storage cabinet behind you and hand them out," she smiled and nodded. "Thank you, ladies."

Deen took the box of thermometers around the class, distributing them to each group. "Sorry guys, I'm out of red ones, but I'm pretty sure I can trust you guys," he said as he handed Sam, Kurt and Mercedes each one of the old thermometers. Rachel frowned as she rejoined Mercedes at their station.

"Alright, let's get started, and please be careful. If I have to send anybody to the nurse I'm going to be seriously pissed off." The class laughed. "Actually, I'm serious, I'll be totally pissed."

* * *

><p>Deen was happy, the lab was almost over and there were no mishaps at all. Of course all good things must come to an end.<p>

Dave had just taken their last measurement and was trying to get the result written down before he forgot. He placed the thermometer on the table using tongs as he had the ten times before, but this time he hadn't placed it in the center of the paper towel they had been using to hold it steady, he had left it propped on their tongs. The thermometer slipped off and began rolling for the edge.

Sam lunged for it as it went over the side, grabbing it just before it hit the floor. "Ahh, SHIT!"

"Oh my God!" Dave said.

"FUCK!" Sam said as he pinched the cooler end of the glass tube and placed it onto the paper towel.

Mr. Deen was there in the blink of an eye. "Let me see," he said as he gently took Sam's wrist, turning his hand to examine the palm. He grimaced as he saw the bright red stripe that stretched from one side of his palm to the other.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," Dave said.

"It's okay, it was just an accident," Sam said through clenched teeth. "At least we didn't need a hazmat team." Sam tried to smile, but it was contorted from the pain.

"Dave, turn on the water," Deen said. "Sam, hold your hand under the water for me." Sam winced as the cold water hit the burn. "Kurt, there are some zip-top bags in the storage cabinet. Grab a big one and go get some ice from the teacher's lounge, please."

Kurt quickly nodded and dashed off.

"Guys, the bell's going to ring soon, so start cleaning up. Just unplug the kettles and leave them to cool, I'll empty them later. Don't forget your write ups are due at the end of class tomorrow. Do not wait until tomorrow to do it; you're not going to have time during class to do it!" He shook his head at the grumbles. "Just keep that under the water; I'll be right back." He went into the classroom and returned just as the bell was ringing.

"Rachel, could you walk around quickly and just make sure that all of the kettles are unplugged?" Deen asked as he walked back to the work station carrying a plant with long, rather spiny looking, deep green leaves.

"Sure, Mr. D," she said, placing her notebook in her bag and zipping it.

"Wow, that's an aloe vera isn't it?" Blaine said as Kurt returned with the bag of ice.

Deen nodded. "Okay, let see it Sam."

Sam held his hand back out to his teacher, grimacing as Deen pulled on his fingers to stretch his palm open. There was a visible tremor in the hand from the pain.

"Sorry," Deen said frowning as he blotted it dry with a paper towel. He broke off one of the thick leaves of the plant and squeezed it until it began to ooze. Sam hissed as he touched it to the burn, but then smiled giving them a relieved 'ah'. "There you go. Kurt, Blaine, you two better get going so you're not late to your next class. Dave could you hold up for a few." Deen said, still holding Sam's wrist as he made sure that the entire burn was covered with salve.

"Sure," Dave said staring at Sam's hand. He waved distractedly as Blaine and Kurt said their goodbyes and left. "Look, I'm so sorry, Sam."

"It was an accident," Sam said, giving him a weak smile as Deen placed a paper towel over the burn then placed the bag of ice in his palm. "Oh, that's better," he said, his eyes rolling back blissfully.

"Dave it was an accident. I saw it happening, but there was nothing I could do from across the room," Deen said. "There was nothing you could have done either. Honestly, I was waiting to hear the glass shatter. And incidentally, Sam, I'd much rather hear the glass and call hazmat than for you to get hurt." Sam smiled at him as he tried to gather his things into his backpack with his good hand. "Quick reflexes, though, and I'm just glad you grabbed the middle; it might have been worse if you'd grabbed the reservoir at the tip."

"Here, let me help," Dave said as Sam tried to balance the bag of ice, hold open his bag and put stuff in.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you both about, you helping one another," Deen said. "I'd like to use you two as guinea pigs." They looked at him questioningly. "It's not that bad. You're right handed aren't you, Sam?"

Sam looked at the bag of ice in his right hand. "Uh, yep."

"You're not going to be writing, not tonight anyway," Deen said. "So I'd like the two of you to work together tonight, and then for the rest of the week."

"Oh I'm sure it'll be better before..." Sam started.

"It will be, but that's where the experiment comes in," Deen said smiling. "First, you two can work on the write up for this lab together. I want you to talk over your results, agree on your answers and then, Dave, you can write it up and both of you turn in just the one paper for the same grade. This time only for you both getting the same grade.

"I'd like you to keep working together for the rest of the week, though. Dave honestly you could use some help, and I think Sam could help explain it in a way that you can understand it better, like a tutor."

"I can't tutor anybody. I'm just not that bright, I never have been," Sam said frowning.

Deen held up his hand, shaking his head, to silence him. "Sam, I have noticed with your dyslexia you have a hard time reading the information and giving me the right answers, but just because you have a hard time understanding the questions. You usually know all the answers when we're just talking."

Sam tried to object again.

Deen sighed. "Okay, answer me this: if you guys were on the team bus going down the highway at fifty miles an hour and tossing a ball back and forth to each other at say, ten miles an hour. How fast would the ball be going toward the person at the front of the bus?"

"You just said ten miles an hour," Dave said. Deen shook his head.

"Yeah, sure, it's going ten, but it would really be going sixty miles an hour because it's going ten and the bus is already going fifty," Sam explained to Dave.

"Eyawr," Deen said. "Ma Sam, oel ngati kameie. Nga lu nì'ul kanu frato nga spaw." *

"Well, that's kind of disturbing," Sam said. "Isn't 'oel ngati kameie' a term of endearment?"

"No ... it means 'I see you', the real you inside, not just the outer shell," Deen said. "Now translate the rest."

"Yeah, I got it, I just don't think you're right," Sam said, frowning.

"Okay, totally lost," Dave said.

"It's Na'vi, the Avatar language ... from the movie," Sam explained.

"You guys speak a made up, alien language?"

"I speak a few," Deen said. "I speak Klingon and Vulcan, as well. I looked them up online; I'm a dork like that," Deen said shrugging. "I'll wager that Sam didn't look anything up, though, did you?"

"Well, I have watched Avatar like nine or ten times now," Sam said shrugging.

"And how many did it take before you didn't need to look at the subtitles?" Deen said.

"Two," Sam said, grinning.

"Look, just give it a try for the rest of the week, and then we'll have a look at how it's going on Monday."

Dave and Sam looked at one another, and then agreed.

"Alright, let me write you both notes to class." He wrote something out on a couple of pieces of paper and handed them to them. "By the way, Sam ... that bus problem is an example of frames; it's an offshoot of relativity ... as in Einstein." He nodded as Sam stared at him with surprise.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dave did as they were asked. They studied together every night for the rest of the week. It was fun and it actually seemed to be working, in fact they had even started studying other subjects together. Saturday night rolled around and they were again in Sam's room, this time just for fun. They both sat on the floor with their backs against his bed, Xbox blazing on his TV screen.<p>

"Yes, you finally beat me, good one!" Sam said high-fiving Dave.

"Yeah, but I think you cheated," Dave said, frowning. "Your hand's still bothering you isn't it?"

"Nah, it's not that bad, but if it makes you feel better I'll give you a rematch later next week."

"Deal."

"Hey, I really do like hanging out with you," Sam said. He placed his controller on the floor and turned around to look at Dave, stretching his arm across the bed.

"I like hangin' with you too."

Sam was looking him squarely in the eye; he was giving Dave the same look he had before the lab last week. It was clear that there was something else that he wanted to say, but he just wasn't sure how. "Dave ... I..." He leaned in a little closer, as if to tell Dave a secret, then it happened. Sam kissed him.

It was brief, just a peck on the lips, but it was ... a kiss. Dave's eyes grew wide.

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "I shouldn't have just... I ... I just didn't know what to say."

Dave looked at him confused. "Sam, you're not gay. I know you're not." Dave shook his head. "I mean you were going out with Santana ... and Quinn..."

"I'm not ... I guess ... no, I don't guess..." Sam sighed. "Dave, I'm bi."

"What, since when?" Sam arched an eyebrow at him. "Okay, that was a stupid question. How long have you known?"

"Well you already know about Quinn and Santana, and I did have another girlfriend back in middle school." Dave nodded and shrugged. "Last year I was in an all boys' school. I started hanging out with this friend, and eventually we got ... closer. We started kissing and stuff. It really didn't go much further than that, but it felt ... right ... and I just knew."

"I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, I just..." Sam sighed. "Jeez, I feel like I'm in middle school again! Look, I just wanted you to know that ... I like what's inside more. To me that's what matters. And ... I like your insides. Oh, God, I sound like I want to eat you or something."

Dave's mouth dropped and then he burst out laughing.

"Oh, gawd, not like that!"

"I know... I like your insides too, Sam."

"I just don't want this to change our friendship."

"It won't, I just need a little time. I've never really thought anything through past coming out and my life ... ending. I never really considered what might happen if it didn't."

Sam gave him a smile. "No rush, I just wanted you to know how I felt."

"Thanks, Sam," Dave said, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Sam said groggily. It was Sunday night; he had a headache earlier so he had turned in early.<p>

"Sam? Sam, could I come over?"

"Dave?" Sam asked sitting up on the side of his bed. "Dave, are you okay? You sound like you're crying."

"Sam, I just ... I need..."

"Sure, sure, come on over."

"I'm sorry. I'm ... I'm out in your driveway already."

"What?" Sam said now even more concerned. "I'll be right down."

"What's wrong, honey?" Sam's mom asked as he rushed down the stairs in his pajamas. "I thought you'd already gone to bed."

"It's my friend Dave, Mom," Sam said. "I'm not sure what's going on, but he sounded really upset. I'll tell you more when I find out."

"Okay, honey, let me know if y'all need anything."

"Thanks, Mom."

Sam led Dave up to his room and sat him on the edge of his bed. He had obviously been crying heavily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were already in bed," Dave said sniffing. "I just couldn't think of anywhere else to go."

"It's okay. What's wrong? What happened?" Sam said placing his hand on the side of Dave's face and turning him to face him.

"I ... my grandfather and my uncle came by for the first time since I came out. It ... came up ... it all hit the fan. Everybody was screaming at each other ... I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Oh man, Dave," Sam said pulling Dave into a hug. Sam could feel his tears on his bare shoulder.

Dave's cell rang. He grabbed it and looked at the caller ID. "It's my dad."

"Here, I'll get it," Sam said holding out his hand. Dave handed it to him. "Mr. Karofsky? Yeah, this is Sam Evans. ... Yeah, he's fine. He's here at my house. ... Is everything okay there? ... No, no, he can stay the night if he wants. ... Okay, I'll tell him. ... Yes, sir. ... Take care." He hung up and Dave looked over at him with worried eyes. "Okay ... he said your uncle was drunk off his ass."

"Nothing new," Dave said.

"They called the cops to haul him away. They just wanted to make sure you were okay. He said you could stay over here tonight if you wanted; just to make sure that you made it to school tomorrow." Dave nodded. "He said he loves you, to make sure that you knew it."

"I know," Dave said, tearing up again. "It's the first time they actually stood up for me."

Sam cradled Dave's head against his chest and gently rocked him. "It's okay Dave. They just didn't know."

"I know. They've been great since they found out."

Sam pulled Dave back onto his bed and let him lay his head on his pillow, then held him until he fell asleep.

A little while later there was a soft knock on Sam's bedroom door. He slowly got up, careful not to wake Dave, and went to the door. Opening it, he smiled at his mother and quietly stepped out into the hall with her.

"Is everything okay honey?" she said, concern written across her face.

"Yeah," He led her into her bedroom and sat on the end of her bed with her. "Mom... Dave's gay ... he just came out to everyone at school, and his folks a little while ago. His folks took it okay, but his uncle and grandfather are ... well, they're bigots to put it nicely. They didn't take it well when they found out and they came over to his house tonight. It was so bad that his folks even had to call the cops to have his uncle removed from their house. I said it was okay for him to stay over tonight. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh my Lord, the poor boy. Well, it is proper to ask before ya invite someone over," she said frowning. The frown quickly turned into a smile, though. "Of course it's okay, honey."

He smiled broadly at her then kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, Mom."

"Um, honey," she said, trying to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to ask. "You two have been spending a lot of time together... If Dave is gay ... are y'all two ... just, friends, friends." Sam gulped, eyeing her carefully. "Or are y'all 'just friends' like you and Brock were friends last year?"

He gaped at her. "I ... uh... You knew?"

"Well, I am your mother, I notice a few things."

"You're ... okay with it then?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course I am honey," she said smiling warmly at him and rubbing his back lightly.

He leaned in and hugged her kissing her on the cheek again. "Um, so does dad know?"

She nodded. "About Brock, yes. You still haven't answered my question, though."

"No, we're just friends, friends ... but I wouldn't mind it if it ended up being more."

"Okay, just promise me one thing. Remember, if you're old enough to use it, you're old enough to protect it."

Sam's eyes grew wide. "MOM!"

"I'm not joking. And you better 'ave darn well used protection with that Santana girl too! You know, I didn't exactly like the way she treated you by the way either."

He jumped up and gaped at her, "EW! Mom I'm not discussing my sex life with you!"

"Shh, you'll wake your brother and sister. You don't have to discuss it with us; ya just have to promise you'll ... protect yourself."

He laughed. "Okay, I promise. It's nothing like that with Dave, anyway. But, yeah, I promise."

"Good. Oh, one more thing honey," she said, taking his hand.

"Yeah, mom?"

"Now your father and I are fine with this, but could you and Dave, if..." She reached over and cupped his cheek, "no, when it ends up being more."

He smiled at her.

"Let's just keep it on the ... down-low - I think that's how you guys put it now, from your brother and sister."

He looked at her questioningly.

"We haven't had 'that' talk with them yet, and we need a little time to expand the content."

He smiled again and nodded at her.

"You know, I might just have you help us with that talk."

"What?" he said, his eyes wide.

"Well, I don't remember exactly what we told you when we had the talk with you," she said smiling, "but I like the way you interpreted it."

He hugged her again. "Thanks, mom."

"G'night honey."

"G'night mom."

* * *

><p><strong>End note:<strong>

* Rough translation from Na'vi (I hope!) = "Correct," Deen said. "Sam, I see you. You are more intelligent than you believe."

Let me know what you think!


	9. 09  Shock

**Author's Note**:

You can all thank Windrider1967 for talking me into the early post. (Hey, it's the least I could do after leading her back to that Door on the Left - though I haven't really heard her complain all that much about it since she peeked inside.)

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**09 - Shock**

* * *

><p>Dave was in that blissful state just before you wake; the calm before the storm as his mother often put it. He vaguely remembered that something bad had happened yesterday, but he couldn't care about that now; he was just too relaxed. The bed was so comfortable and there was something else. He couldn't quite place it.<p>

Dave rolled over and breathed in deeply. "_Umm, Sam,"_ he thought smiling. Was it his cologne, not that Sam wore much, but it had that spicy, slightly musky scent that was just ... Sam. Maybe it was his shampoo, that fruity one with the undertone of coconut that he always used, though on occasion Dave could swear that he smelled citrus, probably lemons. Dave wasn't really sure, but he couldn't stop thinking about him. "_Sam."_

Sam had kissed him yesterday. Sam liked guys as well as girls. Sam liked him. What did that mean? He liked Sam too. Could it really be that easy? No, things were never that easy for Dave, he was a loser.

No, things were going okay for Dave. He had come out at school and he hadn't died. He had come out to his parents and they still loved him. His grandfather and uncle had come over; they'd found out... "_Oh, God."_

Dave's blood pressure shot up, his breathing quickened, his eyes shot open. He looked around. There was a large blue ... Smurf staring at him? "_What the...? Where am I?"_

Dave glanced around again ... Star Wars posters. No, not a Smurf. "_Avatar? Sam?"_ He was in Sam's room. He had come there when he couldn't stand anymore at his house. But where was Sam?

Dave slowly rolled over to the edge of the bed. Looking over the side of the bed he found a blanket, a tuft of blond hair sticking out at the end. He carefully reached down and gently brushed back the soft strands.

"Mmm," Sam moaned. His eyes slowly fluttered open. "Hi," Sam said, his voice low and husky from sleep.

"Hi," Dave said smiling down at him. "Why are you on the floor in your own room?"

"I didn't want to bother you," Sam said smiling up at him.

Dave offered Sam his hand and pulled him up onto the bed sliding over to let Sam to lie down beside him. "Sam, it's your room, you should have at least shared the bed."

"I just told you how I felt yesterday. I didn't want you to think I was being presumptuous or anything."

Dave smiled and kissed him on the forehead. There was a knock at the door, and Dave froze.

"Sammy, you guys up?" Mr. Evans asked thorough the door. "You're going to be late if you don't get a move on soon."

"Yeah, we're up," Sam said. "Thanks dad."

"I uh, I don't want to get you into any trouble," Dave said concerned.

Sam smiled at him. "It's okay Dave. They know."

Dave looked at him strangely. "They know? Know what?"

"Actually ... they know everything," Sam said smiling.

"I'm ... I'm sorry I didn't mean to out you or..."

"Dave, it's okay," Sam said taking his hand. "I told my mom about you last night. I figured you were out to everyone else so you wouldn't mind."

Dave shrugged. "Yeah, but you..."

"Actually, she asked me."

"What?"

"She knew about Brock ... the guy from last year ... my first boyfriend." Sam smiled strangely. "That sounded funny, but not that bad."

"Wait, she already knew?"

"Yeah," Sam said nodding.

"And she was okay with it?"

"That was the strangest conversation I've ever had with my mother, but yeah, she said they're both okay with it. She made me promise to use condoms." Sam shook his head. They both began laughing.

"Oh my God, what did you say?"

"I said we weren't there yet." Sam looked him in the eye, "but that I wouldn't mind it at some point."

Dave searched Sam's face, then reached over and gently brushed Sam's hair to the side, carefully moving it over his ear into a part. He traced Sam's ear with his thumb before tenderly taking the side of his face in his hand. Slowly moving forward he allowed their lips to meet. First they just brushed lightly, and then, with Sam reaching to grasp the side of Dave's face, they pressed them together more passionately.

The second knock at the door finally broke them apart. "You guys are going to be late!" Mr. Evans said.

"Like I told you," Dave said, "I never gave much thought to things actually working out for me."

"What's to think about?" Sam said. "It feels right."

Dave smiled and leaned over to kiss him again. He nodded as he broke the kiss. "It does feel right."

* * *

><p>"Are you really doing okay here," Kurt said as he and Blaine pulled into their parking space in the school lot.<p>

"Well it has had its ups and downs," Blaine said turning off the ignition.

Kurt frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I do enjoy not having to wear a tie every day." Kurt smiled at him. "You know I have spent the last two years not having to worry about anything in the morning other than - blazer or sweater, and now I have to have a new outfit every day."

"Aw, I'm sorry baby," Kurt said smiling at him. "Do you want me to come over and help you organize your wardrobe?"

"Do you think I need help?" Blaine said with a pout.

"Actually, I love the way you dress," Kurt said. "I even like the new look with your hair."

Blaine gave him a funny look, then looked at himself in the rearview mirror and looked back at him. "What new look?"

"The relaxed look you've got going on?"

"I just ran out of gel," Blaine said shrugging. "It was on the shopping list, but Mom forgot to grab it on her way home from work yesterday. I was going to pick some up on the way home."

Kurt smiled then laughed. "Well I think you look adorable just the way you are."

"Thank you," Blaine said laughing.

"Now back to my question," Kurt said. "Other than the difference in wardrobe, are you doing okay here, really?"

"Yeah, I mean it is different than Dalton, and the other school I went to," Blaine said. "I can see why you love it here though. I went from a school that felt like everyone was against me, to one that made me feel that you can be okay, even excel, as long as you fit in with everyone else. I loved Dalton, and I still love all of the guys like brothers."

Kurt nodded in agreement.

"I get it now, though."

"What," Kurt asked.

"Well, I know where 'Blaine and the Pips' came from." They both smiled. "I feel like they handed a lot of it to me. I like ... no I love the way you guys duke it out for parts. You know I think my only complaint here is that McKinley just isn't as advanced in some areas, but that's just because it's a public school and it just can't compete with a private school's funding."

"Yeah that was fun at Dalton," Kurt said. "The others had no idea what Mr. D was talking about when he mentioned the electronic stuff, and we had all the stuff that plugged in to the computers and the calculators. Not to mention that lovely leather furniture in most of the rooms."

"You know there is one plus here that puts Dalton to shame," Blaine said.

"What's that?"

Blaine leaned over close to him. "You!" He kissed him, the kiss getting deeper after Kurt's initial shock wore off.

As they pulled apart, Kurt was beaming. "I can't disagree there."

They climbed out of the car, and Finn walked up to them. "Am I going to have to start riding with you guys?" He asked with a smirk. "I mean really? Windows all steamed up in the school parking?"

Blaine laughed.

"Finn!" Kurt said smacking him in the arm. "We stopped for breakfast and the coffee was still hot. It's not our fault that it's alternating between winter and summer, and today's a winter day."

"I know," Finn said laughing. "Blaine told me you were planning on stopping while he was waiting for you to come downstairs. You're so easy sometimes, little bro."

* * *

><p>"I'm glad things worked out with the studying," Deen told Dave.<p>

"Yeah, Sam's really a lot smarter than anyone give's him credit for," Dave said. "You just have to talk to him, not expect him to read it or write it out."

Deen nodded. "Hey are you busy after practice this week?"

"I don't have any definite plans," Dave said, "but I think Sam and I were maybe going to do something."

"I didn't mean that you guys had to spend every waking hour with one another," Deen said laughing. "It's been like two weeks and you're still at it?" He took in the strange grin that was plastered on Dave's face and gave Dave a questioning look. "Uhm, unless you guys want to spend all your time together."

Dave's grin broadened.

Deen shook his head. "Wait, Sam's not..."

Dave dipped his head and looked away.

"But he was dating Santana... Wait is he?"

Dave smiled back at him from ear to ear, "Bi."

"Well congratulations then," Deen said laughing.

"Don't say anything yet, please. His parents know, but..."

Deen nodded. "I got it. Like I told you, your life and your choices are your business, Sam's too. Anyway ... New Directions are going to do another performance for the student body and I'm helping them with their light show. Mr. Schue would love to use some of the lasers we have in the optics lab and I could use some help setting them up as a laser show. I've got schematics, but I could really use some help wiring the boards and aligning them."

"Cool, I'd love to. I can't tonight though, I'm taking Sam out. He's really bummed since his family lost their house."

"They what?"

"His dad lost the job that he moved up here for, and the bills finally caught up to them," Dave said mournfully.

"Well, I don't want to mess with your baseball practice and you definitely need to take Sam out for some distraction, but if you could meet me after practice tomorrow or the day after it would be great."

"Sounds good to me."

"Tell Sam I'm praying for them."

* * *

><p>The next evening Dave pulled up to the hotel that Sam and his family now called home. He and Sam had taken Sam's younger brother and sister to a park in their old neighborhood to play with their friends.<p>

As Sam helped his sister out of the truck he noticed the door to their room open, and Mr. Deen walked out with his father. The two shook hands and Mr. Deen climbed into his car and left.

"Thanks, Dave!" both children yelled and ran for the room. They each stopped to hug their father before running inside to their mother who was busy making dinner.

"Thanks, Dave," Sam said with a smile. "They really needed that."

"Anytime, Sam," Dave said smiling back. "See you tomorrow."

Sam checked to make sure that his siblings were inside and that no one else was around the parking lot, then climbed back into the truck and kissed Dave on the cheek. "You know, I think I'd go nuts without you. I love you, Dave."

"Love you too," Dave said, smiling warmly.

Sam closed the truck door and waved as he watched Dave drive away. He walked up the steps to the room. "Hey, Dad."

"Sammy," said Mr. Evans as he hugged Sam and patted him on the back.

"Was that my teacher?" Sam asked, looking a little confused.

"Yeah, he stopped by to check and make sure we were doing okay," Mr. Evans said.

"Okay," Sam said.

"He's a really nice fellow, even if he is a Dawg," Mr. Evans said with a chuckle. "He actually brought me an idea for a position I hadn't thought of before."

"Really?" Sam asked. His face brightened as this was the best news he'd heard for quite a while. After all, what good would it be to hear that Dave actually liked him back if he was just going to have to move away anyway?

"Well it's a little further out than where I was looking, both in distance and in job type, but if it works out I can commute and you guys can still stay in school here," Mr. Evans said as the two sat down on the top step. "I've got an interview day after tomorrow that he helped set up for me."

Sam's eyes grew wide. "Really, that soon?"

"Yeah, Mr. Deen and Paul Karofsky put in a good word for me, so they put me on the fast track," his father said.

"Dave's dad?" Sam asked with surprise.

"Yeah, his firm does outside consulting for them so they know him," his father said. "Look, Sammy, if this works out, I'm going to need you to step up and really help out. I may not be home as much depending on what we can work out. I may be able to commute or I may need to stay down in Dayton."

"Of course!" Sam said. "You know you can count on me."

"I have one condition though," Mr. Evans said. "You've already given up your jeep to help keep food on the table, and I know you pawned your guitar." Sam frowned; he'd deliberately not told his parents about that. "I'm glad you got it back, and you're not to do that again."

Sam looked at him questioningly.

"You don't give up your music," Mr. Evans said firmly. "That's worth more to you for maintaining your sanity and keeping the little ones occupied than you could ever get for it monetarily."

Sam smiled and reached over to hug his father.

"Are you two going to join us for dinner?" Mrs. Evans said coming to the door.

"Sure darlin'," Mr. Evans said, standing up.

"So did y'all have a good time out?" she asked Sam.

"Yeah, Dave and I watched them play and even got roped into a game of tag."

"So did you and Dave have a good time?" Mrs. Evans asked more pointedly.

"I don't know about while they were gone, but they snuck in a goodbye smooch before Dave left," Mr. Evans said grinning.

Sam blushed and Mr. Evans ruffled his hair before playfully pushing him inside their room.

* * *

><p>The following week Deen and Dave were huddled together just below the front of the stage. They resembled a doctor and nurse during an operation. Deen adjusted components on the two electronics boards as Dave handed him various parts and tools. The glee kids were going through various slides that they were thinking about using for backdrops during their performance.<p>

Dave kept his head low for the most part. Even though he had apologized, there were still many sore feelings between him and the others. Not only had he been the root of Kurt's problems, but he had been party to slusheeing each of them at least once. He took solace in the several shared glances and smiles between himself and Sam, a couple of which were noticed by Blaine and Kurt.

"Hey, have you been noticing that?" Blaine asked Kurt quietly.

"You mean the looks?" Kurt asked. Blaine nodded. "Yeah. They have been spending a lot of time together, but Sam was quite emphatic that he wasn't..."

"I don't know," Blaine said shrugging.

Another set of pictures flashed up on the screen behind the stage. Dave took notice of one in particular.

"I don't know if I'd use that last one," Dave said quietly.

"What?" Santana said quite abrasively.

"Yeah, since when do you get an opinion?" Mercedes said. She was one who still had a hard time forgiving him for running off her best friend, apology or not.

"What's wrong Dave?" Sam asked.

"Well, that last one," he said, "I'm not sure, but I think it has some kind of significance to the Klan. I don't know, but my uncle loves it, a lot."

"Well I guess you would know about Klan crap wouldn't you?" Mercedes said.

Dave winced. Deen gave Mercedes a harsh look as Sam went over and put his hand on Dave's shoulder.

"Is he really?" Sam said.

"I've never actually seen him in a robe or hood, but considering his friends and all..."

Sam shook his head, sighing, and squeezed his shoulder.

"Wait," Puck said, "the Klan as in THE Klan."

Dave just looked at him sadly.

"Wait a minute," Mercedes said, moving toward Dave, "your uncle is in THE Klan and you're gay?"

Dave nodded.

"Oh, my God. I ... I... Oh my God." She walked over and hugged him. "I can't imagine ... I mean I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like for you."

Dave just shook his head and shrugged.

"Shit man," Puck said, "that's just ... harsh. No wonder you're so fucked up!"

"Noah!" Deen said.

"No, sorry, I mean ... oh, hell, you know what I mean."

"It's okay, Bubba," Lauren said, patting his shoulder, "just quit while you're ahead hot stuff."

"Well I think we'll just pull that one even if it's just on the off chance," Rachel said.

"Santana are you okay?" Brittany asked.

Santana was staring at Sam's hand on Dave's shoulder, an odd look on her face. "Froggy, is there something that you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" she said glaring at Sam.

"Santana?" Sam said.

"Well I'm just wondering, I mean we never did find out why Mr. D and Mr. Hott Buns were so buddy, buddy the other month and now you and Karofsky. Is there something in the water?"

"Santana," Deen said.

"Is there a problem guys?" Schuester said coming down from the lighting booth.

"Just doing a little investigating Mr. Schue," Santana said curtly.

"Well Sammy?" she continued. "I mean, I'm still wondering about Mr. Hott Buns, but I'm just too polite to ask. I might settle for some truth from you, though. I guess Kurt was right about you when you first transferred, huh, or was it Quinn that made you switch teams? Just how long have you been gay?"

"Santana!" Schuester yelled.

Everyone's eyes darted back and forth uncomfortably, as Santana glared at Sam.

"He's why you dumped me?" Santana said fuming.

"Wait, you said you dumped him," Brittany said.

"Oh shut up Brit!" Santana said.

Dave lowered his head, sighing, this was the last thing he'd want to happen to Sam, but Sam stood tall. He stepped forward placing himself between Dave and Santana. "Actually, I'm not gay, I'm bi," Sam said matter-of-factly. "As for when ... I thought I might be around my fourteenth birthday, but I wasn't really sure until last year when I met my first boyfriend. And yeah, I'm hoping Dave'll be my next."

Sam turned to Kurt, "Sorry, Kurt I didn't mean to be misleading when you asked me about being gay. I probably would've told you ... the rest ... had you not transferred to Dalton."

Kurt shrugged at him, "Not a problem."

"Anything else you wanna know, Santana," Sam said staring directly at her. She'd never admit it, but the resolution in his gaze was unnerving her. "Like I tried to tell you when we broke up, I look for more in somebody. I look for what's under the surface, so it really doesn't matter to me whether the outside is a girl or a guy. And, you know, right now, I'm sorry to say that what's beneath Dave's surface, even after the royal ass he might have been in the past, has it in spades over what you've got going on.

"Look, I'm sorry you're not happy, but being mean and vindictive to everyone's just not cool. You really need to figure out why you're not happy and what you can do about it." He glanced over at Brittany. "And what you can't do anything about. And you need to stop doing your best to piss off and push away anybody who might just try to make you feel better.

"You know, I'm pretty sure 'Mr. Hott Buns', as you put it, has a name; in fact if I remember right I think it was Derrick. Mr. D's been nothing but supportive to all of us and ... that's just so not cool. Hell, he pointed my dad to a job that helped me stay in school here. To do or say anything about him or his friend, that's just not right."

"Derrick?" Dave asked, finally standing up. "Derrick's Mr. D's bother, what the hell did she do to him?"

"Santana, are you the one who passed around those naked pictures of D's brother?" Schuester asked glaring at her.

"Well I didn't know he was his brother!" Santana said defensively, clearly fighting back tears.

"You didn't ask either did you," Schuester said.

"It's okay Will," Deen said. "I know what my brother does for a living and I know he's not dressed for parts of it. I'm much more concerned that she'd be vicious enough to out someone knowing how much it could have hurt them. Sam, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," Sam said shrugging, "I was planning on telling everyone, at least before we went to Nationals. I just wanted to figure out how to do it. Now I guess I don't have to."

"Santana, come on," Schuester said, "I think we should go have a talk with Ms Pillsburry.

They all watched as the two of them walked to the door at the back of the auditorium. As the doors slammed, Blaine shook his head and blew out a big breath, "Man, I thought Lima's zip was 4580- not 90210."

Everyone turned to look at him. It started as a giggle, and then became a full chorus of laughter.

"Sorry, I guess we should have warned you," Kurt said, hugging him.

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

Hope you all enjoyed it. Drop me a note and let me know what you think!


	10. 10  Awe

**Author's Note**:

I knew, after the performance and the little thing on stage, I figured anyway. ;)

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**10 - Awe**

* * *

><p>"You should try out if you want to," Sam said looking over at Dave. The two were sitting on Dave's floor with their backs against his bed. They had been studying, but were taking a break for a round of their favorite video game.<p>

"Nah, I'd feel stupid," Dave said, shaking his head.

"Come on, I've been watching you watch our practices while you're helping Mr. D," Sam said.

"Is that why you've been flubbing your choreography?" Dave said smiling over at him.

Sam smirked. "So you've been keeping up with the choreography enough to know that I've flubbed it?"

"Well..." Dave said. "Some of it is kinda obvious."

Sam laughed. "Come on, I know you had fun with the halftime thing we did. You even loved the makeup."

"I don't know," Dave said. "Being way out on the football field, hidden under makeup is one thing, but to be right there out front... I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"Well you don't have to solo or anything," Sam said. "You could just do back up and chorus stuff. That's all Lauren was doing until she felt she was ready to try something bigger. Mike's the same way. Plus, it'll give us more time together." He leaned over against Dave.

Dave couldn't help but smile. "Maybe."

* * *

><p>"Guys, I'm trying to talk Dave into trying out," Sam told the group. "Would everyone be okay with that?"<p>

"I think it would be awesome," Finn said. "He was really good when we did the Thriller and zombie stuff. I tried to talk him into it then, but he turned me down."

"Definitely," Schuester said. "Finn's right, he was amazing that week."

The rest of the group mulled it over and everyone but Santana readily agreed.

"If he does though," Schuester said, "you'll have to work with him to get him up to speed with the Nationals stuff."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Finn said smiling.

"It might be," Kurt said. "Blaine and I practiced Candles constantly and ... well we still lost at Regionals."

"Good point," Blaine said grinning. "They may need a chaperone."

Sam blushed as the others laughed.

* * *

><p>"Hey, D, wait up," Will said as they finished up a rehearsal in the auditorium.<p>

"What's up Will?" Dan asked.

"You have any plans for week after next?"

"Not in particular, why?" Dan asked suspiciously.

"Well, the school board says that two chaperones are enough on a school trip," Will said. "Ordinarily, going to Sectionals or Regionals I'd be fine with that, but Nationals ... New York City..."

"You're afraid someone's gonna end up on the wrong plane?" Dan said nodding.

"Or in the Hudson," Will said shaking his head.

Dan laughed. "Okay, I'm in if you need me. Who else is going?"

"Well I already talked to Emma and she's in," Will said. "I was thinking you and Beiste? That way we'll have two males and two females. For some reason teenagers alone in hotel rooms in a different state terrifies me."

Dan shuddered exaggeratedly. "Okay, yeah that sounds like a plan," Dan said.

"Great, now I just need to ask Beiste."

Dan nodded. "So what's the itinerary?"

"Well for some stupid reason the competition is on a Thursday," Will said. "I was thinking we could fly out on Tuesday night, so we'd get there Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. Rest up Wednesday and get in a practice or two. Competition Thursday, then fly home on Friday."

"Sounds like a plan," Dan said. "So do you have hotel and flight arrangements?"

"Working on it. We may end up having to pay our own plane tickets and for an extra room," Will said frowning. "We barely have enough in the budget to get the kids there."

"Hey, Derrick goes to New York all the time for photo shoots," Dan said, "Maybe he knows somewhere or someone that can get us a break."

"You think so?" Will said hopefully. "That would be awesome."

"I'll give him a call tonight or tomorrow and see."

* * *

><p>Dave and Sam sat beside the piano in the practice room. The others and Mr. Schuester sat around the risers expectantly.<p>

"I gotta say, I'm a little nervous," Dave said with a slight tremor in his voice.

"You'll do fine, Dave," Schuester said.

"It's okay, just sing it to me like when we did it for your folks," Sam whispered to him.

Dave nodded. "This song is a little special to me; it's my parent's favorite song."

Sam strummed his guitar and Dave began to sing, **Sam joining him at the choruses**...

He never had given much thought to dancing.

But she gave a lot of thought to being asked.

Well he'd never been good at coming right on out and asking,

And she'd never been given the chance.

But something moved him 'cross that old gym floor,

When fear was holding fast.

And to his surprise the words came at last:

**And she said, "Yes," to his half-hearted request.**

And they held on for dear life 'til the last song played.

**They won't let go, it's beyond their control.**

They lit a flame with a match God had made,

When she said, "Yes."

From that night on, the fire was burning,

And they sure did shine in its light.

And, he knew as long **as this old world kept turning,**

He wanted her by his side.

So with a ring and a nervous smile,

And some lines that he'd rehearsed,

He said the sweetest words that she'd ever heard:

**And she said, "Yes," to his whole-hearted request.**

And they'll hold on for dear life 'til the last stars fade.

**No they won't let go, it's beyond their control.**

**They lit a flame with a match God had made,**

**When she said, "Yes."**

They lit a flame with a match God had made,

When she said, "Yes."

As Sam finished playing they all clapped. Schuester noticed Coach Beiste leaning on the doorframe to the room and waved at her to come in.

Beiste approached Dave and Sam wiping a tear from her eye. "That was beautiful Dave," she said patting him on the back. "I've always been a softy for a nice country ballad." Turning to Sam she said, "I keep forgetting you're from Tennessee, Sam, you usually hide your drawl."

Sam shrugged.

"You should have heard him doing 'Time of My Life' at Sectionals, he had the cutest twang," Schuester said.

Sam blushed.

"Wish I'd been there," Dave said, smiling over at him.

"Okay guys, what's your verdict?" Schuester said. Everyone cheered. "I guess you're in Dave!"

Schuester turned to Beiste. "What brings you here coach?"

"Well, you asked if I'd consider chaperoning," Beiste said. "As the song said, she's saying yes." They laughed. "I'd be happy to Will. Hey, with Dave does that make fifteen?"

"Oh God help us, it does!" Schuester said his eyes growing wider.

* * *

><p>"Danny!" Derrick said. "What's up, Bro?"<p>

"I need to ask you a favor," Dan said.

"Okay, it's about time. I've been doing it of you for years now."

Dan laughed. "Our show choir is attending a national competition week after next in New York City. I was just wondering if you might have any kind of connections that could help out there in the city."

"How many are we talking?"

"About nineteen. Fifteen students and four chaperones."

"Okay, that one's out."

"What?"

"Well I was going to see if they could stay with a friend for free, but there isn't an apartment in the New York with that much room that doesn't belong to a Trump." They both laughed.

"Hey is this the show choir that Dave's boyfriend is in?"

Dan looked shocked for a moment. "So you know about that?"

"I'm just glad that he finally followed through, I think he's kinda had a crush on him for a while now."

Dan laughed. "You know, now that I think about it, I think Sam's had one for a while too."

"Teenagers!" Derrick said laughing.

"Amen."

"Oh, by the way, from what Will says, Dave joined them too."

"He did? Wow you topped me there."

"I do try to stay a step ahead of you," Dan said grinning.

"Well you just keep trying, maybe one day you'll actually succeed. So, how many days are we talking?"

"Like three. We'll fly up Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. They'll rest and practice on Wednesday. Their competition is on Thursday and then back home Friday."

"Oh hell no," Derrick said.

"What?"

"You're taking kids from Bumfuck, Ohio all the way to New York City and you're not even going to give them any time to see any sites or anything?"

"Look, we'd love to, but you know how expensive New York is. We have barely enough to get the kids there and back as it is. We're even buying our own tickets so that we can make sure that we can feed the kids."

"Look, let me see what I can work out. If I can swing it, can you guys spend at least an extra day to get them in some culture?"

"As long as it's okay with their parents, I'm sure we chaperones would be okay with it, but the budget is going to have to be low, and I mean really low."

"Okay, deal!"

* * *

><p>"Alright, come on guys," Blaine said seated at the piano on the auditorium stage. He and Kurt had been helping Sam get Dave up to speed on the music for nationals.<p>

They ran through the song once more.

"Great!" Kurt said.

"Yeah, you knocked that note outta the park that time Dave," Blaine said. "You just need to watch your breathing. You notice how you ran out of breath before the end of that next line?"

"Yeah, lost it right at the end," Dave said frowning.

"Try it like this," Sam said singing the line that Dave had dropped, pointing at his ribs and emphasizing where he took the breath.

They sang it again and Dave managed to both hit the note and hold the next one.

"Great!" they all said once they were done.

"Hey, guys," Dave said. "I can't thank you guys enough for helping me."

"Come on," Kurt said. "We're all friends now, and it's about time. It's like Blaine said when he was talking about transferring, there's strength in numbers."

"Hey we can be the four musketeers," Blaine said with a grin.

"Meets Zorro the Gay Blade?" Dave said. They all looked at him. "What, too much?"

"No, I think we just can't believe that you're finally comfortable enough to joke about it," Blaine said laughing.

"Yes, not to mention the cheese factor," Kurt said.

"Sam liked it, didn't you?" Dave said giving him a pout.

"It was kinda cheesy," Sam said smirking.

"But you liked it, right," Dave said, leaning over and kissing him.

Both Blaine and Kurt grinned with wide eyes.

They broke the kiss and Sam's head sort of cocked to the side. "Loved it."

"No fair, that's blackmail," Kurt said.

"Technically I think it's bribery," Blaine said.

"Either way," Dave said, "you blackmail your boyfriend however you want and I'll bribe mine the way I want."

"Um, who were you bribing?" Sam said sliding closer to Dave.

"My boyfriend," Dave said moving even closer.

Blaine and Kurt grinned as Kurt moved over and sat on the bench beside Blaine.

"And who is this boyfriend that you're bribing?" Sam said.

Dave grinned and pressed Sam against the piano, "You." Dave moved in and kissed him again.

Kurt and Blaine laughed softly then looked at one another. They shrugged and leaned in and kissed each other.

They had only been kissing for a few minutes before they heard someone say, "Oh man!"

They all broke apart, turning to find Puck and Finn walking toward the stage. Puck was shaking his head, "Weren't they supposed to be chaperoning them?"

"The blind leading the blind?" Finn asked.

"The horny leading the horny," Puck said.

"Did you get any practicing done?" Finn asked lauging.

"Yes," Kurt said. "We got done with all of the songs before we ... got distracted."

"Is that what were calling it now?" Puck said laughing.

"We actually did get though all of the songs and Dave nailed them all before we stopped," Blaine said grinning.

"What about choreography?" Finn asked.

"I wouldn't ask about choreography with your track record, Hudson," Dave said laughing. "Didn't you guys say something about him breaking someone's nose?"

They all started laughing, all but Finn. "Okay, okay," Finn said. "I've been trying to forget that, thanks."

"Seriously guys," Puck said. "Glad to finally see some PDA. I know you guys don't really seem comfortable doing it in the halls, and I can't really blame you with the track record around here, but we got your back in here and in the practice room."

"Thanks, Puck," Kurt said smiling.

"Be right back..." Puck said.

"Where you going, dude?"Finn asked.

"To find Zizes," Puck said. "They got the right idea. Close the curtain, hit the lights, greatest make out session ever!" He turned and ran out of the auditorium leaving them all laughing.

* * *

><p>"Oh my God, you have got to be kidding me!" Will exclaimed. "This is like only a few hundred dollars more than I had for the four days, and he's got like six and a show! Who the hell does he have dirt on? Or who did he sleep with?"<p>

"Knowing Derrick, he has dirt on them because he slept with them." Dan laughed. "Actually he has a great travel agent and he knows a guy that works at the hotel. He says the guy reminds him of Hector Elizondo's character Barney in Pretty Woman."

"I love Hector Elizondo," Will said laughing.

"We've got four rooms with either three beds or two beds and a pull out sleeper each so we can have one adult per room and then double the kids up without even needing any roll aways. 'Hector' even comped us some buffet meals so we don't have to worry about feeding the kids," Dan said. "He did have one condition though."

"What? Anything!" Will said wide-eyed.

"He wants an invite to your practice sessions on Wednesday."

"Done!" Will said laughing.

* * *

><p>The time had finally come. It was Monday and today was their performance for the school. It would be their dress rehearsal for Nationals before they left the next day for New York.<p>

Dave helped Deen set up the lasers on each side of the stage before joining the others back stage for the performance.

They performed their National's set and it was a rousing success. Everyone cheered doubly hard as they finished their original songs as Principal Figgins had made a special effort to point out that the kids had written them themselves when he had introduced them. For the first time, the kids felt like they could be winners as fellow students actually came up to congratulate them on writing and performing the songs.

* * *

><p>The entire club and their parents met up in the school parking lot. As everyone was checking their luggage and placing it under the bus Mr. Evans walked up to Mr. Deen.<p>

"Could I speak to you a minute?" Evans asked.

"Sure, Mr. Evans," Deen replied.

"Call me Max, please," Evans said. Deen nodded. "I've spoken to Paul, but I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for what you did for my family."

"It was the least we could do."

"You know, I didn't realize until after I started that it was your position I was taking," Mr. Evans said.

"No, you didn't," Deen said emphatically.

"Yes it was," Mr. Evans said. "John told me that you'd been doing it for a year now."

"No, I worked there part time," Deen said. "A few weekends a month and over the summer, they've been looking for someone full time ever since I started."

"But still," Evans started.

"But nothing," Deen said, "I'm a teacher. I wouldn't be happy just crunching numbers there; I just did it to keep my hand in the game. Besides I know they were looking for an engineer rather than a physicist."

"Well, John did say that much," Mr. Evans laughed.

"Besides, I'm single," Deen said, "you have a wife and three great kids to support. You need the full time benefits, more than I need the part time no benefits."

Mr. Evans laughed. "That is true; Stevie already looks like he's going to need braces."

Deen smiled. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you how a guy from Tennessee ended up a ramblin' wreck from Georgia Tech."

Evans grinned. "I'm originally from Chattanooga, we didn't move to Nashville until after Sam was born. Georgia Tech was the best school for engineering and it was basically right across the mountain."

"Ah," Deen said.

"My turn," Evans said. "How'd a Georgia Bulldog end up in Ohio?"

Deen smiled. "My brother and I are military brats. We moved around all our lives, and ended up in Georgia when I graduated from high school. We moved up here after dad retired. My mom is originally from here, just outside Westerville, so we have family up here."

"Well you're the nicest Dawg I've ever met," Evans said with a grin.

"Hell, we're both from Ohio now," Deen said grinning, "you don't sting me and I won't bite you." He winked at the other man.

"Deal," Evans said, pointing at him. "Well I'd better let you get over there, Mr. Schuester looks like he's got his hands full. If Sam gives you any trouble, feel free to beat him."

"I'm sure I won't have to, but thanks for the permission."

They shook hands and Mr. Evans went to rejoin his wife. They both hugged Sam before he and Dave boarded the bus, and then went to join the Karofsky's.

Burt and Carole hugged Finn, Kurt and Blaine, whose parents were conspicuously absent. They were on a trip themselves.

The kids all waved to their parents as the bus pulled out of the lot heading for the airport. The ride would be longer since their flight was out of the Cincinnati airport rather than the closer one in Dayton.

"Hey, Mr. Schue," Puck said.

"Yeah, Puck?" Schuester answered.

"Looks like the bus has a sound system; think we can hook up some tunage?"

"I'll check with the driver," Schuester said. He conferred with her for a moment and she agreed. "She said okay, but does anyone have something to play?"

They all offered up MP3 players, but they'd all neglected one detail. They all had headphones, Rachel and Kurt even had speakers, but no one had cables to do anything other than to charge their players. Deen had a quick look, rummaging through his bag producing a cable that would attach to the bus.

"Anybody got a player that'll fit this?" Deen offered. They all took turns checking, but his was the only one that would connect. "Well you can listen to mine, but my tastes are a little ... eclectic."

"Come on, we're all musicians," Schuester said. "We like eclectic music. Just hook it up and set it to random."

"Random might be a good word for it," Deen said connecting it. "You have been warned."

He was correct. There were old boy-band hits that he and Schuester rocked out to. A song from Phantom of the Opera that Rachel and Kurt adored even some hard rock. A few country songs which Beiste loved and Dave and Sam nodded their heads to and even sang a few bars of.

As the next song started, it was 'Defying Gravity'. Rachel and Kurt easily fell into a rhythm passing the parts back and forth. As the high F came up they both hit it. Blaine looked over at Kurt giving him a look that screamed "impressive". Schuester turned round and stared at Kurt. When Kurt met his gaze, Schuester's look was inquisitive. Kurt just shrugged and smiled innocently. Schuster just smiled and shook his head.

"What was that about?" Blaine asked.

"Nothing," Kurt said innocently.

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

Song - "She Said Yes" by Rhett Akins from the album A Thousand Memories

Yes, sorry, I did completely skip over prom. I flirted with it, but in my opinion that episode was so well written and Dave coming out and Blaine already being there already changed the dynamic so much, I'm just letting the cannon one stand and letting you decide what would have happened if there were actually three out young men at the prom... For one thing the Lopez/Karofsky campaign wouldn't have existed nor would the Bullywhips.

Feel free to discuss ... and review!


	11. 11  Mile High Club

**Author's Note**:

I've been trying to keep my posts to every week, but I kind of made a silent promise to myself to reward you guys if we broke 100 readers before the next week had elapsed. Guess what ... you guys did it and in only a day!

Oh, and you may have notice that the story has been bumped from rated T to rated M... Hey I'm just sayin'...

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**11 - Mile High Club**

* * *

><p>They had all made it through airport security with no major incidents. Everyone had held their breath as Puck had gone through; the boy just exudes that bad boy vibe that can either be construed as endearing or, to some authorities, as a possible terrorist. He was on his best behavior though, although Lauren had asked if she could accompany them if they were going to strip search him.<p>

They boarded the plane and all found their seats. They were seated in the third and fourth rows from the door. Sam and Mike helped Artie into his seat and then let the flight attendant stow his wheelchair in a forward compartment.

Sam climbed over Kurt, Blaine and Dave to take his seat by the window, as Mike took his seat on the aisle across from Artie. Deen settled into his seat between Beiste and Brittany, cinching his seatbelt and then reaching into his pocket and switching his phone to 'airplane' mode.

Beiste saw him and laughed. "That might be a good idea," she said. "I never thought I'd ever have to use that." The two looked over at Schuester, who took another headcount, his tenth since reaching the gate, and then settled himself in beside Ms Pillsbury on the opposite end of the row.

"He's going to give himself a stroke if he doesn't relax," Deen said conspiratorially to Beiste. When he heard Sam and Dave snickering from their seats in front of them he playfully smacked their seatbacks.

"Sorry," Dave said trying to stifle another chuckle.

Thankfully there wasn't a very long delay before they were taxiing out to the runway. Deen and Beiste shared another grin as Schuester admonished the students telling them to pay attention to the safety demonstration the flight attendants were providing.

"Shh, he's right," Blaine said. "We need to know this."

Kurt looked over at him. "Are you alright?" Kurt said leaning closer.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to pay attention," Blaine said back rather quickly.

"Baby, you're sweating," Kurt said. "If you're hot you can take off your sweater and loosen your tie. You know I don't know why you wore that thing for travelling anyway."

Blaine pulled his sweater over his head and tugged at his tie.

Deen reached between the seats and tapped Blaine on the shoulder. They boy jumped about a foot, but once Deen had his attention, he reached up and turned on his air vent. Blaine nodded a thank you and reached up and turned on his own air, angling it to hit him in the face. He breathed in the cool stream and tried to relax back into his seat.

Another half hour or so and the plane accelerated down the runway and they were airborne. There were some gentle murmurs, but then it generally fell silent as most of them retreated into their own music players, a couple of them playing cards and some just dosing.

They were about an hour into the flight when the overhead sign chimed and the 'fasten seatbelts' sign came back on.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the flight attendant said, "please observe that the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts signs. We've been informed that there's a small pocket of thunderstorms ahead. We will be making minor adjustments to our route to avoid the worst of it, but we may still encounter a bit of turbulence. We'd ask that you please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened unless absolutely necessary."

"Great," Beiste said. She pushed the call button above her seat and asked the flight attendant for a glass of water. "Need one?" she said offering Deen an aspirin as the flight attendant brought her the small cup.

"I'm good," he said, "though Will looks like he could use some."

"Aw, Emma can take care of him," she said grinning. She glanced out her window and said, "Oo, pretty!"

Deen looked out to where she was pointing and saw the flashes of lightning in the distant clouds. "Yeah, beautiful," he responded, "as long as it stays way over there."

The plane shimmied causing Beiste to grab her cup as is slowly started walking across her tray table. She drank the rest then placed the cup into the pocket in the seatback in front of her as she stowed her table.

The kids looked around as the plane made funny noises. Glancing down Kurt noticed that Blaine's knuckles were white as he gripped the arms of his seat.

"Are you sure you're okay, baby?" Kurt whispered to him.

Blaine shook his head rapidly.

There was another shudder through the plane.

"It's okay Blaine," Deen said warmly, "it's just bumps in the road."

"Yeah, well the road is several thousand feet down so these are some pretty damn big bumps!" Blaine said through gritted teeth.

"I thought you were okay with flying," Kurt said.

"Flying yeah," Blaine said, "turbulence, not so much!"

Suddenly the plane jolted violently. The overhead bin above them opened and a briefcase dropped out nearly landing on Artie.

"Shit!" screamed Blaine.

As there was another jolt some blankets came tumbling out as well.

"You okay, Artie?" Deen asked, quickly removing his seatbelt and reaching up to shove the bin closed.

"Yeah, I'm good," Artie said, smiling up at him. "It missed me; just hit the arm of my seat." He was feeling much better anyway since Brittany had latched onto his arm at the scare.

Schuester was on his feet on the other side of the cabin ready to come over, but Deen indicated that everything was okay so he sat back down slowly.

"I'm so sorry young man," said the gentleman seated behind Artie as he retrieved his briefcase. The flight attendant came and checked on him as well and helped the gentleman secure his briefcase under his seat. He rechecked the overhead bin, adjusting a few things before re-securing it and returning to the forward galley.

Mike gave Artie a thumbs-up, which he returned as he placed the blanket over his and Brittany's laps and snuggled in beside her.

In front of him, though, Blaine was white as a sheet. He tugged at his tie, and as the plane shook once more he again reached to clutch at the arms of the seat. Instead of the seat arms, however, he ended up grasping Dave's and Kurt's hands.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly to Dave.

"No problem," Dave said grinning. "Always happy to lend a hand."

Kurt smiled over at Dave then glanced over at Sam who was sound asleep against the window. Kurt looked at Dave questioningly, but Dave just shrugged.

"Blaine, honey, it's okay," Kurt said. Blaine just nodded his head quickly. Kurt found it so intriguing. Blaine was always so calm and in control, it was almost refreshing to see him acting like a normal teenager. Almost ... the terror he was sensing from Blaine had him concerned.

Another tremor went though the plane and Blaine clutched at their hands even tighter. Kurt knew he had to do something to calm his boyfriend. With his free hand Kurt reached over and took the opposite side of Blaine's face, turning him to look at him. He leaned in and kissed him.

Blaine's eyes grew wide for a moment, and then slowly they closed. His grip on Dave's hand slowly released and his hand went up to catch the side of Kurt's face. Blaine adjusted slightly getting more into the kiss as his hand slid slowly down to Kurt's chest. When they finally broke apart, Blaine laid his head on Kurt's shoulder, a blissful smile on his face.

Dave shook his head as Kurt smiled and laid his head on Blaine's.

Glancing across the aisle, Deen saw Finn across the aisle from Kurt, a look of pure shock on his face. Not disgust, but the look of walking in on your parents ... or your brother, in a compromising position. "I don't wanna know, do I?" Deen whispered between Dave and Sam's seats.

"Nope," Dave said chuckling.

Deen glanced between their seats to Sam who was out cold. "Is he alright?"

Dave looked over at Sam. "He's been like that since we took off."

Deen snaked his hand between the seats and felt of Sam's neck. His pulse was strong and steady and his breathing seemed fine. Sam moaned slightly as he adjusted in his seat, so Deen patted him on the shoulder. He glanced down and saw the extra blanket between his and Brittany's seats. He grabbed it and handed it to Dave, who carefully tucked it around Sam. Deen shook his head as he sat back in his seat.

"He's okay," Beiste said. "He does that on away games too. As soon as the bus starts moving he's out cold."

"I think Will's rubbing off on me," Deen said. She patted his knee and they both laughed.

* * *

><p>"Okay guys, here we are," Deen said leading the boys into their hotel room. "We've got two beds in the other room there, and either the sofa or the chair is supposed to fold out for me."<p>

"Cool," Sam said as he took his bag through to the other room.

"Swanky," said Blaine.

"It's late so we'd better hit the sack," Deen said. "For some reason Schue found it necessary to set a 9am wake up call for all of us."

They all groaned.

"I know, I know. Look, I should be dividing you guys up, or at least making you switch bed partners or something, but I'm just too damn tired," Deen said.

Blaine grinned trying to choke back a laugh. Deen walked over and placed his arm around the brunette's shoulders. "Okay, Neo. I know you're gonna bust if you can't say it, so let's have it."

"N ... nothing," Blaine managed, still trying to hold back his laughter.

"Neo, Neo, Neo, come on ... just spit it out," Deen said shaking his head as Sam chuckled.

"I was just thinking that I didn't think any of us were really the swinger type," Blaine said laughing.

"Oh God!" Dave said laughing.

"I'm going to change," Sam said, grabbing some stuff from his bag and jogging toward the bathroom. As he passed Blaine he bowed his head slightly and said, in his best Agent voice, "Mr. Anderson."

"He is the One, alright," Deen said, "who's going to be a royal pain in my ass."

"I'm not that bad!"

"I'm beginning to wonder if that uniform was your kryptonite," Deen told him. He gave him a closer examination. "You know I never even realized that your hair was that curly until you toned down the gel." Deen ruffled his hand through the teen's hair as he released him.

"If I don't do the gel, it's all over the place. You should have seen me before I transferred to Dalton."

"Alright guys, I'm hitting the rack," Deen said checking beneath the cushions on the sofa. He started tossing the cushions onto the nearest overstuffed chair and folded out the bed beneath as the boys went into the sleeping area of the room. "Don't burn the place down ... and no orgies!"

The three of them laughed as they claimed beds.

"Oh, hey, guys," Dave said. The other two glanced up at him curiously as they grabbed clothes from their bags. "I was just wondering how you guys were planning to sleep."

"Usually on my right side or my back?" Blaine said.

"He's right!" Kurt said, smacking him with a pillow. "Get you out of a uniform and you're incorrigible."

Dave laughed. "No, I meant what you were planning to wear to bed." Dave shook his head. "I know Sam usually goes topless with pajama pants, but I usually just do boxers."

"You guys have slept together?" Blaine said.

"Well I spent the night," Dave said. "He was already in bed and I just fell asleep in my clothes that night."

"That's how Blaine sleeps too," Kurt said. Blaine gave him a quizzical look. "In his clothes, at least he did the last time he spent the night in my room." Kurt gave Blaine an impish look. "Of course he was a little drunk at the time."

It was Blaine's turn to use the pillow.

"Okay, I've gotta hear that one later," Dave said laughing. "No, I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't bother you."

"You're not sleeping with us," Blaine said looking at Kurt and shrugging, "so if it's cool with Sam, it's cool with us."

Kurt nodded. "As for us, I got us the cutest matching PJs."

"Uh, about those," Blaine said.

Kurt frowned, "You don't like them?"

"Oh, no, no," Blaine said, "I love them, they feel great. I just ... I didn't realize that they were long sleeve. I don't do so well sleeping in long sleeves; I kind of feel like I'm wearing a straight jacket. Would you be okay if I just used the bottoms and a tee?"

"Oh whew," Kurt said. "No problem, I'm just glad you like them."

"Like what?" Sam said entering the room wearing his pajama pants and an oversized tee. Dave looked at him strangely.

"Oh, my turn!" Kurt said in a sing-song voice, leaving in the direction that Sam had just come from.

"Kurt got us matching PJs," Blaine said producing his set from his bag. He removed his top shirt and kicked off his shoes.

"What?" Sam asked, walking over to Dave.

"Nothing," Dave said, "I just thought you usually went shirtless."

Blaine slid off his jeans, then slipped on his new PJs, and hopped onto the bed. "Oo, comfy!"

"I just didn't really feel like it," Sam said, turning away quickly.

Kurt exited the bathroom and turned off the light. Deen sat on the edge of his pull-out bed in a pair of baggy sweatpants. He yawned as he peeled off his shirt.

"Mr. D?" Kurt said.

"Yeah, Kurt?" Deen said tossing his shirt onto his bag.

"I just wanted to say thank you," Kurt said.

"For what?" Deen said, before stifling another yawn.

"You and your brother," Kurt started. "Had you not helped Dave, we'd probably still be fighting, I'd still be terrified and I'd be missing out on a great friend."

Deen smiled at him. "It was all Dave. He had to be ready to confront it and deal with it."

"Well still, thank you for ... pointing him in the right direction and being there to help out."

"Not a problem..."

"Look I'm just fat!" Sam yelled from the other room.

"Whoa guys!" Blaine yelled.

Deen and Kurt dashed in to find out what was going on.

"You guys alright?" Deen said.

"Yeah ... I was just asking a question," Dave said frowning.

"Whoa, Mr. D, I didn't know you had ink!" Sam said pointing at the teacher's arm.

Deen looked down at the cross on his upper left arm. "Yeah, well, I have a loving, charismatic and convincing brother. Though, how a cross my mother never sees is for her I'm not entirely sure." He shrugged.

"Derrick's got one just like it doesn't he?" Dave asked. "I saw it in some of his pics."

"Uh, his is a little bigger and a little lower, but yeah."

"Well damn," Sam said, "I figured you'd have some cool story about being drunk or on a bet or something."

"Nope, under duress maybe, but nothing so spectacular," Deen said shaking his head. "Now, stop deflecting. What's up? Why were you guys yelling?"

"Sorry, Mr. D," Blaine said hanging his head.

Deen stared expectantly at Sam.

"I just don't feel like taking my shirt off," Sam said.

"Then don't," Deen said plainly.

"It's just that he usually does," Dave said. "And the only thing he could come up with when I asked him about it was some crap about being fat."

"Well I am!" Sam said.

Deen closed his eyes and sighed. He looked around at the four boys. "Sam, with the exception of maybe Kurt, who looks like he has like .2% body fat," he looked down at his own stomach then back at Sam "you have the least fat of anyone in this room. I wish I had half your metabolism."

Sam started to protest, but Deen held up his hands to quiet him. He moved over and placed his hands on Sam's shoulders. "Look, Sam, it doesn't matter what any of us think. If you're uncomfortable, just leave your shirt on, it's okay."

"I'm sorry, Sam," Dave said. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, I just ... you're not..." He sighed. "Let's just get some sleep."

"Good idea," Deen said. "Nine o'clock is going to be here really soon, especially since," he looked at his watch and groaned, "it's already four. Get some shut eye guys."

Deen walked through to the other room. He walked over to the table and grabbed the ice bucket and room key. Pausing to grab his cell phone he headed for the door. "Guys, I'm going to go grab some ice in case we get thirsty tonight, I'll be right back."

* * *

><p>Deen sat on the top step in the hotel stairwell. "Yeah, I know," he said into his phone. "I can't help it; it's been a rough month. ... I know, I've just never had anyone give me flashbacks like this before. ... Anything you can come up with I'm game. Wait, they're not my kids ... anything within reason.<p>

"Okay, love you too. See you Friday." Deen turned off the phone and, standing, slipped it into his pocket. He grabbed the ice bucket from beside his foot and headed back into the hall. "Excuse me," he said as he entered the small room with the ice and vending machines.

The brunette moved aside saying, "Sorry."

Placing the bucket under the dispenser Deen sniffed the air. He looked over at the girl and sighed. He shook his head and said, "Santana."

"Mr. D," she said. "Hey, I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For?" he asked, leaning against the wall behind him.

"Look, I don't do this well, or often, so work with me," she snapped.

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "For snapping and for last week. Sam hit a nerve." She said looking away uncomfortably. "You are cool, and you always have been. You know, Sam doesn't seem all that bright, but he has his moments." She looked back up at him.

"Maybe you should tell him that," Deen said. "Or at least maybe apologize to him. You could have really hurt him if he wasn't prepared to come out yet."

"Look, one apology at a time," she said. "But, I guess I'm sorry about your brother too." She looked at his chest and grinned. "You know the apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it?"

He squinted at her. "Inappropriate," he said folding his arms across his bare chest.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'," she said. "I mean if your buns are anything like his..."

"And now you're really losing ground," Deen said glaring at her.

"There you are!" Ms Pillsbury said appearing at the door.

"Lose something?" Deen said.

"Glad I got up to go to the restroom," Pillsbury said.

"I was just getting a drink," Santana said innocently.

"Mm hmm," Pillsbury said. "You can't kid a kidder missy."

"I just needed some air," Santana huffed, heading into the hall with Pillsbury.

Deen shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Santana," Deen said holding his hand out and making a 'gimme' motion.

"Hmm?" Santana said. Deen sniffed the air. She glared at him. "Oh, alright!" she said and slapped something into his hand. She huffed again.

"Thank you," he said, then crushed the pack of cigarettes in his hand.

"No!" she screeched. "Apology withdrawn!"

"Come on missy!" Pillsbury said, directing her toward their room. "Good night, Dan."

"Night, Emma."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Yes, sorry, the title was a tease, but tell me you didn't love it. No, really, tell me. Leave me a review. ;)

You know I'd written that last part about the cigarettes a few weeks ago so I almost did a spit-take when Santana told Rachel that she smoked cigars to get that gravely sound to her voice in that episode. Scary!


	12. 12  Preparation

**Author's Note**:

DAYUM, you guys did it again! We broke 100 readers for the last chapter so here you go!

Enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**12 - Preparation **

* * *

><p>Nine o'clock and the wakeup call from the front desk did indeed come early. Deen took the call then rolled out of bed and went to the restroom. Once he was done, he washed his hands and splashed cold water on his face in hopes of waking up. Back in the room, he pulled on his shirt then grabbed the room key and some change and walked down to the vending machines. He grabbed a Mountain Dew from the machine, popped the top and downed nearly half of it. Turning, he met Coach Beiste standing in the doorway.<p>

"Caffeine?" she said.

"Amen," he responded. He turned and placed more change into the machine. "Name yer poison, ma'am."

"Bourbon?" she said with a grin.

"I wish!" he said. "They seem to be fresh out."

"Well damn!" she said. "Just make it a Coke then." He pressed the button, then removed the can from the machine and handed it to her. "I knew there was a reason that we only kept them for part of a day and sent them home." She popped the top and took a big gulp.

"Existential crises?" he asked with a frown.

"Worse," she said. He arched and eyebrow. "Girl talk!"

"Ah," he said. "I can't wait for tonight then."

"Why you have a room full of boys?"

"Correction, I have a room of gay male youth..."

"Ah, girl talk with a twist."

He nodded and offered up his can. They tapped cans in a toast and went back to their rooms to attempt waking their charges.

* * *

><p>They all managed to make it downstairs by 10:30 for the breakfast buffet that the hotel offered. Everyone was yawning, but a nice warm breakfast and some coffee and juice perked everyone up.<p>

'Hector Elizondo', whose real name was Jasper as it turned out, had arranged for their meals to be served in the same room where they'd be allowed to practice. He'd even arranged for a piano to be brought in and to have the breakfast buffet replaced with a table of light snacks and drinks for throughout the rest of the day.

Jasper was an avid music lover and relished watching such a talented group of young people practice their gifts. He visited several times throughout the day between attending to his other duties in the hotel.

After lunch Schuester was about to send the kids into their second round of practice as Beiste and Deen sat in the back of the practice room.

"You know," Beiste said, "I love these guys to death, and they're all talented as hell, but..."

"But if you hear the same song one more time, you're gonna kill one of them?" Deen said laughing.

"No, I have better control than that, I'll only maim." She laughed. "No, Danny, I'm just afraid I'm not going to enjoy their actual performance tomorrow as much."

He nodded. "I know, I heard them all last week while I was working on the light show with them," he said shaking his head allowing his eyes to cross.

She laughed.

"Ever been to New York before, Shan?"

"Nope."

"Well we've got some stuff scheduled for Friday and Saturday with the kids," he said. "What would you want to do though?"

"Meet Det. Mac Taylor and the rest of the _CSI: New York_ team," she said grinning.

"Can't help you with that one," Deen said with a chuckle.

"Well shit, get a girl's hopes up why don't you!"

"Anything else you can think of?" he said grinning.

"Carriage ride in Central Park?" she shrugged.

"Now that, I think I can handle."

"Nah, that's gotta be way too expensive."

He scoffed. "Hell all the money I've been saving on dates, I can swing a simple carriage ride."

"You buy as many rounds at Rosalita's as I do," Beiste said smiling.

"It doesn't qualify as a date if you go Dutch, Darlin'," he said. "Be right back."

Deen went up and asked Schuester if he'd need Beiste or himself for anything for the next few hours before dinner. Schuester told him that they were just planning on more of the same until dinner then calling it an early night.

"Well, Shan and I are gonna get lost for a while and leave you to it."

"Okay, just remember to come back," Schuester said laughing.

Deen walked over and offered Beiste his elbow, "Ma'am."

"Why thank ye kindly, sir," she said rising and placing her arm in his.

They went out to find Jasper and arranged their outing.

* * *

><p>Deen and Beiste enjoyed a wonderful day in Central Park. The carriage ride had Beiste giggling like a school girl. Deen even treated her to a hot dog and soft pretzel from a push cart, which they ate by a fountain before going to feed the ducks and geese by a lake. The two returned just before dinner.<p>

The kids had gone upstairs to freshen up so they were alone in the banquet room as Jasper came in to supervise setting up the dinner service.

"Ah, did you enjoy your outing?" Jasper asked.

"Very much, thanks," Beiste said.

"You have a most beautiful city, my friend," Deen told him.

"Not another one like it in the world!" Jasper said. "You make a cute couple by the way." He walked away to check the buffet table before leaving them alone.

The two just looked at one another and grinned.

A short time later the rest of their group came down. They ate a leisurely meal and then Schuester sent them off to their rooms to get an early night in preparation for the next days' competition.

* * *

><p>Deen's cell rang, and he took it out and answered. "Hey, Bro!"<p>

"Hey, Danny. So, how'd it go?" Derrick said excitedly.

Deen smiled. "They took third. They're all bummed, but considering it was their first outing on the national level I think they did pretty damn well."

"Amen, to that," Derrick said. "Did they at least get a trophy?"

"Yeah," Deen said.

"Well, there you go then," Derrick said. "It's all good when you get something to show for it. Are you guys back in your rooms or what?"

"I had to come up to the room to get something, everyone else is downstairs in the banquet room for dinner," Deen said. "So when are you getting here?"

"Actually, I just pulled up in front of your hotel."

"I thought you weren't getting here until tomorrow."

"Well I was thinking about Sam, and what you said was going on," Derrick said.

"Come up with anything?" Deen asked.

"Well I have a photographer friend who's doing a catalog shoot in the park tomorrow morning. It's teen's wear for a discount store or something."

"Yeah?" Deen said, grabbing the room key and heading for the elevators. "So what were you thinking?"

"Well modeling definitely got me out of my funk, so I thought I'd try taking him over and giving him a little taste."

"Are you sure about that? Aren't there releases and other stuff that he'd need signed by his parents?"

"Well, yeah, but my friend agreed to shoot him on the side so to speak."

"On the side?" Deen asked skeptically as he hit the down button.

"Okay, I agreed to pay for a couple extra rolls and donate ... me to her shoot," Derrick said. Deen arched his eyebrow as the doors slid open. "She's going to use the extra roll to shoot Sam and Dave on their own so that if she can't get a release she can just toss the shots. Then she gets shots of me that she can sell on the side to make up the difference."

"Wait, you're paying to be shot?" Deen said grinning. "You really like Dave don't you?"

"Alright, he reminds me of me, and so does Sam... Okay just shut up!"

Deen laughed as the doors opened on the lobby. He stepped out of the elevator to find Derrick waiting for him. He gave Derrick a look.

"What? I heard the doors chime as you got in."

Deen laughed as they both turned their cells off and pocketed them. He reached over and gave his brother a hug and said, "How 'bout some dinner?"

"Love to, lead on!"

By the time the two arrived in the banquet room the others had already gotten their food and sat down to eat.

Facing the door, Sam noticed them as they walked in. "Hey, isn't that Mr. D's brother?"

Dave put his drink down on the table and turned to look. "Oh my God!" He jumped up and jogged over to them. "Derrick!" he said hugging him.

"Dave, good to finally see you in person again," Derrick told him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have a shoot in the city tomorrow," Derrick said.

"Did you know about this?" Dave asked turning to Deen.

"Guilty," Deen said. "I figured I'd surprise you."

"Come on," Dave said. "I want you to meet Sam and the guys."

Dave led him over to their table as the other teachers gave them a once over.

Deen walked over to the teacher's table. "So he made it huh?" Schuester said.

"Yeah, he managed to get an earlier flight," Deen said.

"So I finally get to meet the famous little brother," Beiste said.

"Don't mention that he's famous," Deen said. "He has a big enough ego as it is." He glanced around the room and noticed Santana already eyeing his brother. "Someone may need a hose for Santana later," he said frowning.

"Derrick this is Kurt and Blaine," Dave said pointing to each. "And this ... is Sam."

"We've met," Derrick said, grinning and pointing at Sam.

"Yeah, sort of," Sam said, smiling and standing to shake his hand. "Nice to finally meet you properly."

"I hear congratulations are in order for you guys?" Derrick said as he took the chair that Dave offered him.

"For what," Kurt said, "we lost."

"Danny said you guys got a trophy right?" Derrick said. They all replied in the affirmative. "Then you did better than all but two of the other teams did, right."

"Yeah," Dave said.

"It's better than taking last right?"

"Okay, okay, we get it," Dave said laughing. "So you have a shoot tomorrow?"

"Two actually," Derrick said. "I had one in the afternoon, but a friend of mine called me and said she could use some help on a shoot tomorrow morning as well. That's why I came early. You know, I could use your help if you're game."

"Sure, what's up?" Dave said.

"Well the earlier shoot is mainly for a teen's wear catalog," Derrick said. "The photographer is a friend of mine and she had a couple of her models call in sick."

"Oh, man," Blaine said.

"I'd love to think I could pass for a teen," Derrick said, "but even I'm not that delusional. You think any of you guys might be willing to help out."

"Well Blaine and I were going on the shopping trip with the rest of the group tomorrow," Kurt said.

"Say no more, man," Derrick said. "There is no way in hell I'd ever think of coming between a man and his shopping!" They all laughed.

"Dave, how 'bout you or Sam?" Derrick said, looking hopefully at the two.

"I don't know," Dave said.

"No, pressure," Derrick said. "It's just a fun time playing dress up. You basically just have to put on the clothes from the catalog and then go out and play games and have fun while someone takes your picture."

"Hell I'd almost go for that if I could keep the clothes," said Kurt.

"Believe me, I've made that deal a time or two myself," Derrick said with a wink.

"Okay, I'm in if Mr. D and the others okay it," Dave said.

"Don't worry about Danny," Derrick said, "I'll take care of him. How 'bout it Sam? We could really use you. Blondes have more fun, and they sell more clothes."

"I don't know," Sam said. "I'm not really that comfortable..."

"Hey, this isn't a swimsuit spread, just regular summer fashions," Derrick told him, "probably jeans and tees, maybe a pair of shorts or two."

"Come on Sam," Dave said. "It could be fun. It'll just be like going out to the park for a while. I know we'd both rather do that than go shopping."

"Okay," Sam finally said, "I'll do it as long as you're going."

"Cool," Derrick said. "Let me go square it with the squares, and I'll join you for dinner." He walked over to join the teachers.

"Hey, Bro," Deen said. "How'd it go?"

"They're in," Derrick said. "Maybe I'll take up acting."

"You're bad enough as a still," Deen said, "let you actually talk and we're done for."

"So you think it'll work?" Beiste asked after their laughter subsided. "Danny was telling me about what was going on this afternoon."

"Oh G... I'm sorry," Deen said. "Derrick, this is Shannon Beiste, she's our football coach."

"Nice to meet you Shannon," Derrick said shaking her hand.

"You know Will, and this is Emma Pillsbury," Deen said. "She is the school's guidance counselor."

Derrick waved at Schuester and shook Pillsbury's hand. "Well it worked for me," he said. "Hopefully it'll just help him break out of that shell of his. You know even Dave was picking up on it, he texted me a few times yesterday during your breaks."

"Evans is a good kid," Beiste said, "they both are ... hell they all are. They just need a little kick in the right direction every now and again."

"Hey why don't you go ahead and grab some food," Deen said. "You can sit at the kids table or the adult table, your choice."

"Adult? Me?" Derrick scoffed. He walked over to the buffet and picked up a plate. Seeing him alone, Santana saw her chance and took it.

"Oh, God," Deen said.

Schuester sighed. "Should we?"

"Hold up," Deen said as he noticed Sam and Dave stand up and jog over.

They met her just as she was reaching Derrick.

"Santana, come on back off," Sam said pleading with the Latina.

"Look, Derrick's not only Mr. D's brother he's a friend of mine," Dave said. "I don't give a shit if you rag on me, but you're not bothering him. He's done too much for me."

"He's a grown man," she said. "He can handle some adoration, or are you afraid that you can't compete?"

"Excuse me?" Derrick said, placing his plate on the side of the table. "Are you the someone who was spreading my business all over my brother's school?"

"Well I did point you out to a few friends," she said proudly.

"Honey, I have an agent who takes care of publicity for me," Derrick said. "And if you're gonna insist on making trouble for my brother or my friends, you gonna hafta deal with me."

"Well I..." she started.

"Un un," he said. "You need ta listen chica and listen good. One, this gets paid for," he said, indicating his body. "I get top dollar when I put it on display, especially if it's without clothing. You put my business out there again without my permission, expect a subpoena. Two, I am a grown man and so far outa yo league it's ridiculous. Enhanced rack or no, you're still girl, so stay outa the grown up pool."

She looked down at and then covered her breasts. "These are real!"

"Mm no," he said, shaking his head. "I've seen my fair share and honey I've seen much more expensive and extensive pairs. Hope you got a discount."

Sam's eyes bulged and he covered his mouth.

"And three, you need brush up on your skills, cause you really need to learn to choose your opponents better. A, you need to make sure of the team your conquest is on before making yourself look stupid and B, you need to definitely make sure they're not a bigger bitch than you are before you bite of more than you can chew."

He grabbed a napkin and offered it to Santana. "Here ya go sister. Now wipe up ya drool and move along." He turned and retrieved his plate and headed for the table, Sam and Dave following him, leaving Santana standing dumbfounded staring at the napkin.

"Preach it sister!" Mercedes yelled.

"Can I get an Amen?" Lauren followed her.

Over at the teacher's table Deen bowed his head trying to stifle his laughter. "That's a blast from the past," he said finally. "I haven't seen Derrick the Diva since family reunion two years ago. Thank God he reined it back." The other teachers joined him in trying to stifle their laughter.

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

OKAY, COME ON! I've given you three updates with LONG chapters in a week ... GIVE ME A REVIEW ALREADY! (I could be cruel and not let you know why the rating went from T to M...) :P

***** Yes, I did skip the Nationals competition. There's not much of a way to write it that could give it justice. I was at least a little nicer than cannon since I let them at least place in the top ten. Again, I wrote this before the actual season finale so I found it amusing that on the list they showed that Vocal Adrenaline was second on the list of the top ten. In my mind, New Directions took third but Vocal Adrenaline came in second so it was funny that they were second on the list. I did read later that Brad Falchuk said they didn't win on the show because they weren't all focused, and he was absolutely right, hell they were still writing the songs after they got there! In my version, they had the songs, they practiced and even got in a dress rehearsal, plus they had an ace in the hole with Blaine. ;) The only thing they didn't have was the experience, so I'm guessing that they'll take it next year. (Senior year for them on the show so of course they will!) The show isn't very realistic anyway, what school lets 13 kids go to another state on a plane with only one _absentee_ chaperone. Wait, my kids went to school in Ohio, they might have... :(

If you don't want to review, hit me up on twitter: virtual_mage01 ;)


	13. 13  Big Apple Blues

**Author's Note**:

Well here we go! I'm gonna have to up my cutoff for the next chapter; you guys are getting to 100 readers too fast for me!

Again, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**13 - Big Apple Blues **

* * *

><p>Dan and Derrick ended the night rounding up the guys and taking them up to their room. Dave and Sam weren't exactly thrilled to find out that their outing meant they'd need to be up at eight, but they dealt with it and got ready for bed. They were tired from the day's competition anyway, so it wasn't really a big deal.<p>

The boys settled in their room, Dan went about folding out the sofa in the sitting area. He was again dressed in the tattered old sweat pants and was just removing his shirt as Derrick left the restroom.

"You still have those things?" Derrick asked, smiling as he removed his own shirt.

Dan looked down and said, "Yeah, why?"

"Didn't you get those at the college book store like your junior year?"

"Yeah, but they're comfortable. Besides I only wear them on trips; I never did like staying in a hotel and just wearing my underwear, or less, to bed. You never know when there'll be a fire drill or something."

Derrick shook his head as he slid down his jeans.

"I see you have no such problem," Dan laughed as Derrick stepped out of his pants leaving only his silky black briefs.

"With the amount of time I spend in hotels, I'd never be comfortable," Derrick said shrugging. "Besides it's not like people don't see me in my skivvies all the time anyway."

"Guess you got a point there," Dan said sitting on the foot of the bed.

"So," Derrick said, sounding much more serious, "have you really been having flashbacks?"

His brother turned to look at him. "It's like I told you, it's been a kind of rough month." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back for a moment, then brought it back down shaking it. "You know, I don't even think Dave actually looked at me that day that I first talked to him, but he didn't have to. All I could see were your eyes that night when you pulled me aside and told me." He looked up at his brother, his eyes damp. "You know I just knew you were about to tell me you had something terminal."

"I can't say that wasn't how it felt," Derrick said, moving over to sit beside him.

"I just ... the terror in your eyes," Dan said. "I'm glad you told me ... that you trusted me."

Derrick lowered his head, absently scratching at his scalp. "Actually, there was another reason that I told you first..."

Dan looked over at him questioningly.

"If I had told you ... and I lost you," Derrick said, "there wouldn't have really been any need to tell anyone else.

Dan considered a moment, and then looked over at him with confusion. "Do you mean you had actually thought about..."

"I can't honestly say that I'd never considered it."

Dan just stared at him.

"You were always there for me," Derrick said, shaking his head. "I mean we're five years apart, we weren't in school together or really the right age to hang out. But you never just dropped me. I mean you went out on dates in high school, but then you made sure you took me out for pizza or a movie later. You graduated and went on to college. You weren't home, but you were still the one who noticed that I never went out on dates like you had. You made sure we got a guys night whenever you were home. You've always been my best friend. I couldn't have handled losing that."

Dan sighed and put his arm around his brother.

"Flashbacks all round I guess," Derrick said, laying his head on Dan's shoulder.

A noise at the boys' door caught their attention. They looked up to see Blaine, a strange expression on his face.

"Sorry, I ... I didn't mean to interrupt," he said quietly.

"It's okay, we were just taking," Dan said. "You okay? You look..."

It took Blaine half a beat, but then he pasted on his winning smile. "No, no, I'm fine," he said quickly. That sideways, mischievous grin then surfaced. "I don't know, two hot guys, half dressed and hugging in a hotel room, just a little erotic ... and a little ... wrong."

Dan reached down and grabbed a throw pillow and chucked it at him. Blaine dodged it and ran toward the bathroom.

"That tears it," Dan said as the door closed behind Blaine, "first stop when we get back is Westerville. I've got to get another Dalton uniform for him. Kryptonite I tell you!"

"Face it you love every minute of it," Derrick said nudging him with his shoulder.

"Yeah I do, but I still can't help feeling like I'm walking that knife's edge, getting ready to cross that line between teacher and student."

Derrick shrugged. "Sometimes the line gets blurry. They don't really have anyone else to relate to." He smiled.

"What?"

"It's like that split experiment you tried to tell me about, where the whatever-tron goes through and it goes in both directions and you can't actually tell which way it went until you catch it."

Dan laughed.

"Hey come on, I was close!"

"You were close."

"I just mean that sometimes you can be on both sides of the line at the same time, just like the thing going through the split."

"There's a serious catch to that," Dan said smiling at him, "but I know what you mean. Actually the closer comparison to how I feel would make me a cat in a box... Hey, come on, you need some sleep if you're going to get them up at eight."

Dan walked around to the side of the bed as Derrick flipped himself up and into position. Dan looked at him and laughed.

"What? I know all sort of different positions and moves in bed," Derrick said raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yeah well keep it up and you're sleeping on the floor," Dan said pulling back the covers and laying down.

Derrick grinned and pulled the covers up over himself. "Love you, Danny."

"Love you too, Ricky," Dan said turning off the light.

Derrick smiled at the old nickname and snuggled in.

* * *

><p>In the bath room Blaine closed and locked the door then sat on the toilet. He looked at his hands as they shook. He could feel the tremor in his arms and legs as well.<p>

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he said quietly. He breathed in deeply smelling the various scents of the body washes and shampoos. He caught the scent of Kurt's shampoo and then the lotion that he used. "Kurt," he said with a sigh.

He stood and went over to look at himself in the mirror. Staring at himself he said, "Two naked guys in a hotel ... really erotic ... good one."

_"Then why are you shaking? Shouldn't have at least had partial wood or something?"_

"Shut up," he mumbled.

_"You know why their conversation was getting to you and it had nothing to do with their state of dress. Come on man, you're among friends who'll understand ... finally!"_

"I said shut up," he mumbled, turning on the cold water and splashing his face. "Talking to yourself is the first sign of an unstable mind."

He dried his hands and reached for the doorknob.

_"And arguing with yourself is a sign of something worse, especially when you know you're right."_

He shook his head and went back to bed.

* * *

><p>At eight o'clock Derrick went in and shook Dave and Sam awake. They all grabbed quick showers and headed down to the lobby. Derrick bought them some juice and muffins and had the person at the desk call them a cab.<p>

"Is this really okay to wear?" Dave asked. "I mean we're going to have our pictures taken."

"Yeah, in someone else's clothes," Derrick told him, smiling. "They'll give you stuff to change into when you get there."

They hopped into the cab and were soon somewhere in Central Park. There were a dozen or so other people there and several tents set up. A couple had the wardrobe in it and one the hair and makeup people. Derrick sent the boys over to meet the other models while he went to talk to the photographer.

Most of the models were older than them, just starting out in the business and freshly moved to New York, others were around their age, local kids who had answered an ad for an open call.

Several of them seemed surprised that Sam wasn't an actual model. Many of them told him that he had "the look", especially with the blonde highlights. He blushed at each of the compliments.

"You've gotta stop that," Dave told him quietly.

"What?"

"Blushing at every compliment," Dave said smiling and pulling him into a hug. "They're going to be saying it all day you know. They're gonna all be jealous too." Sam looked at him questioningly. "'Cause you're mine and they can't have you." Dave leaned over and kissed him.

"Well damn!" one of the female models said. "That's the thing I hate most about this business. All the good ones are taken."

Dave and Sam laughed.

One of the assistants came in followed by Derrick. The lady told them that they would be shooting from one set of racks first and then the next few in series. Derrick showed them how the clothes were divided up and helped them pick out outfits.

They were shocked at first at how the other models just dropped their clothes and changed in front of them, but Derrick pointed out that they could change on the other side of the rack if they were feeling shy.

The others went first, then the assistant called them over and handed them a Frisbee and told them to just go over to a certain area and have fun. A little while later, they were called back over, sent in to change, and then sent back out to change activities. This happened several times and eventually they gave up on hiding behind the racks as Derrick and the assistant kept asking about the clothes, how they fit, how they looked and having them change up certain combinations.

The boys had to admit that they knew what they were doing. They looked good in what they picked out, but they looked great in what they were asked to change into.

"Blondie, how would you feel about tucking your shirt in your back pocket for the next few?" the photographer asked.

"I don't know," Sam said.

Derrick stepped forward. "Sam if you're uncomfortable just say no, but I see the look she's going for."

"Okay," Sam finally agreed. He pulled off his shirt and started tucking into his back pocket.

"Could you help him out D?" the photographer said.

Derrick hurried over and repositioned the shirt. "They want to still be able to see what kind of shirt it is," he explained placing it so that you could still see the collar and the majority of the design.

The photographer snapped a few more and then sent them back to change. She grabbed Derrick as the boys headed back to the tent.

"The blonde one, Sam, right?" she said. "He's a natural! I'd love to get him for some art prints."

Derrick smiled, "I know. Not sure whether it's the eyes or the smile but he's got it goin on."

"Oh hell the eyes are to die for," she said, "but those luscious lips! Smile or frown, it doesn't matter. You have got to talk him into joining you on your shoot when we're done here."

Derrick laughed. "You know I don't know if he's going to sign off."

"I'll risk it!" she told him. "I'd settle for the two of you in my portfolio, sellable or no!"

"Okay, I'll ask him," Derrick said.

Inside the tent the assistant was asking Sam about leaving his shirt open instead of buttoning it all the way. Dave nodded, telling him to go for it. "Okay," he finally said after a bit more prodding.

Derrick met them on the way out of the tent. "Wow, cool," he said, as the assistant led Sam over to pair him up with one of the female models who was the right size and coloring.

Derrick spied a guitar in the set of props. "Hey, he plays right?" he asked Dave.

"Does he!" Dave said, smiling.

Derrick grabbed the guitar and took it over to the photographer. "Try this with Sam on the next one, Chelle."

As her assistant reset the scene she said, "Here, Sam, you play?" He smiled and took the guitar from her.

Sam strummed it and adjusted the tune as the assistant paired Dave and the other guys up with girls, and then positioned them around Sam as he played. The photographer was thrilled. Nothing reads better than genuine emotion and you could easily see that they all loved Sam's playing.

"If you ever decide to come over to the other side of the camera," she whispered to Derrick, "stay they hell on the west coast! Oh my God!"

Derrick laughed.

Eventually the photographer came to her last roll of film and called it a wrap. She left her assistants to take care of the other models as she sorted through some of her bags. "Can you give me a hand D?"

"Sure," he called. "Be right back guys."

In the photographer's tent she sorted through several racks. "Can you grab a couple of sets for Sam? You're a 31/32 right and a 40 regular?"

"Hey, I haven't asked him yet," Derrick said. "And what, you have no shirts?"

"Can't blame a girl for trying," she laughed. "You're a ... 16?"

"Right on all counts," he said, sorting through the stuff she had available that would fit Sam.

"I just know you're on a schedule and I'd only planned on shooting one of you."

"Hey, I told you I hadn't had the chance to ask him yet," Derrick said laughing. "His shyness is why I brought him here, remember?"

"Yes, I do," she said. "I also know that you're charming as hell. Hell you could probably talk me into being straight if you put your mind to it."

Derrick snorted. "You sound like my brother when I talked him into getting a tattoo with me."

She grinned at him.

"Hey, Sam," Derrick said as he met the boys outside the changing tent. "Chelle was going to do a spread with me by the water, and she asked me to ask you if you'd like to join us."

"What?" Sam said sounding shocked.

"Chelle, the photographer, is going to get some shots of me for her portfolio over by the water," Derrick said, nodding toward the nearby pond. "She liked your look and she asked me to ask you to join us. Well you're both going to be there already, but she'd love to shoot some photos of you as well if you're cool with it."

Sam sort of shook his head and shrugged.

"Come on Sam, it's the same thing we were doing earlier," Dave said clearly excited.

"Look, no pressure," Derrick said. "We're bringing stuff that's your size; you can watch me for a few and then make up your mind."

With everyone else gone, Chelle's assistants set about packing up the stuff from the previous shoot, as Chelle led the guys over to an area near the pond. She helped Derrick set up a small area for him to change and then started handing him items.

"Want your money's worth, huh, lady?" he laughed before stepping out in a Speedo.

"I am not wearing one of those!" Sam said seeing him.

"Relax," Derrick said laughing, "I wouldn't let you anyway."

He went over and let her snap several shots calling out different poses for him. He then went over and changed into another less revealing set of trunks.

"How the hell did you do that so quick?" Dave said as Derrick emerged from the makeshift tent.

"Loads of practice," Derrick said with a grin, "and it helps if they're not wet."

They finished up the swimsuit shots and Derrick changed into a suit. Chelle snapped a few shots and Derrick called Sam. "Wanna give it a try? We have another suit?"

"Come on," Dave said, "I bet you'd look great in a suit!"

A little more encouragement and Sam agreed. He changed into the suit that Derrick had offered him then went out to join him. Derrick and Chelle both had to tell him to relax repeatedly, but he eventually managed to forget that the camera was there.

They gave him several things to change into; some casual, like a tee and hoodie; a pair of slacks and a pullover sweater; and a couple more outfits. Chelle finally managed to talk him into changing outside the tent and she shot him as he changed shirts. She even caught him as he got his head stuck in one and had to have Dave help him out of it.

"Are they together?" Chelle whispered to Derrick. He nodded. "I've got a few shots left on this roll, see if you can find them both something dressy and I'll give 'em some 'prom pics'." She winked at him and he went over to rummage through the pile that they had left.

Derrick left Sam to change and helped Dave into the suit he'd found for him. With a few adjustments to their ties, Chelle finished off her last roll. "Thanks guys. I'm out, so that's a wrap."

Derrick gave her a hug and kissed her cheek, then took the guys over to change. Once they were done, Derrick went over to say goodbye and Chelle's assistant gave him a folder filled with some papers.

"How 'bout some lunch guys?" Derrick said.

Sam's stomach rumbled in answer. He and Dave both laughed and said it would probably be a good idea. They started walking for the edge of the park and found a hotdog vendor. Derrick bought them all dogs letting them heap them with toppings, and then they found a bench to sit and eat.

As they ate silently, Derrick flipped through the papers in the folder. Once they were done, Derrick said, "So, did you guys have fun?"

They looked at one another and both agreed.

"It was cooler than I thought it would be," Sam admitted.

"I can't believe you just stripped down to that Speedo for her though," Dave said laughing.

"It took me a while to get to that point," Derrick said. "You know, when I was your age I wouldn't even go to the beach topless. I'd always borrow one of Danny's or Dad's tees to wear when I went out. And a Speedo was absolutely out of the question, it was knee length board shorts or nothin'."

The boys laughed.

"How'd you get over it?" Sam asked him.

"I did what you guys just did," Derrick said smiling. "I was in college and went shopping with a friend at an Abercrombie and Fitch store and one of the managers asked me if he could take my picture. He took some digital photos and sent them off to their corporate office and they called him and said they wanted me to do a shoot for them."

"Really?" Sam said.

Derrick nodded. "I was shy as hell on my first shoot, but eventually I figured that if they were asking me, and paying me, I obviously had something going on." Derrick reached into his satchel and pulled out a pen. He signed several pages in the folder and scribbled on a few more then handed it to Sam. "Here, this is for you."

"What is it?" Sam asked, looking at the folder curiously.

"They're releases," Derrick said. "I read them over for you and they're all above board. If you're up for it, you can sign those where it's marked and Chelle can use your photos in the spread she's putting together for the catalog."

"I don't get it," Sam said. "We were just helping you out."

Derrick looked over at Dave, then back at Sam. "Actually, Danny and I were plotting," he said. "Danny called me the other night when he found out you weren't ... feeling so pretty."

Sam frowned.

"Look, it reminded him of the way I used to be ... shy, withdrawn, never sure of myself. Dave was already reminding him of the gay aspect and then when you were showing the shyness and insecurity, he just sort of went all big brother..."

Dave laughed and Sam even managed a smile.

"Look, Sam, I just arranged this to give you a taste, but Chelle sort of took it and ran. She was going to just shoot you guys on your own as a favor to me. My doing the shoot for her portfolio afterwards was supposed to be payment for taking shots that she wasn't going to use in the catalog."

"Wait she didn't just shoot us alone, she had us in there with the rest of the group," Dave said.

"And we messed up her portfolio shoot 'cause she's got as many in there of me as she did of you."

"Yeah, she changed her mind after she saw you," Derrick said grinning. "She insisted on you joining the second shoot. She wanted you for her portfolio."

"I ... what?" Sam said.

"Sam I know this comes a shock to you, to me and Dave not so much," Derrick said laughing. "You're hot guy, smokin' even. Look, the top few pages are for you and Dave, they're releases to use the catalog shots in the actual catalog. She wouldn't have included you guys in the shots with everyone else if she didn't think she could sell them to the catalog people."

Dave grabbed Sam's shoulders and shook him. "See, I'm not the only one who thinks you're hot!"

"The other pages are releases for her portfolio," Derrick said. "You guys think it over, talk about it. If you want to do it, just sign them, have your parents sign them where we marked them since you're under age, and fax them back to Chelle. She'll even cut you a check for the catalog shoot."

Sam's eyes grew wide. "I don't know."

"You've got until next Friday to make up your minds," Derrick said. "As minors, Chelle has to let your folks see the shots before they sign off on them, to make sure nothing was inappropriate so you'll get a chance to see them too before you decide. They can call me or visit their own lawyer about the details on the contracts."

Derrick looked at his watch. "Come on, I need to get you guys back to the hotel so I can get to my other shoot."

In the cab back to the hotel, Sam opened the folder and stared at the card attached to the top page. "H. Chelle Rae Photography: Portraits, Art, Catalogs"

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

Oh, 100 bonus points if you can tell me the name of the cat in the box or at least who it belongs to! B)


	14. 14  Comfort

**Author's Note**:

Hi all, several of you have asked why the switch from a rating of T to M ... I think this may answer your questions... ;)

Enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**14 - Comfort**

* * *

><p>Derrick dropped the boys off and headed off to his photo shoot. The two retrieved their room key from the front desk and headed up to their room.<p>

Once inside, Dave leaned back on the bed, propping his head and shoulders up with several pillows and Sam walked over to join him.

"So, did you have fun today?" Dave asked. "'Cause you looked like you did." He stretched out his arm in invitation. Sam obliged, lying beside him and laying his head on his chest, and Dave closed his arm around him.

"Yeah, it was fun once I got into it," Sam said smiling. "And you were right, Derrick is really cool."

"Even cool enough to forgive him for tricking you?" Dave said, frowning.

Sam thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, he was just trying to help. I still can't believe she's actually offering to pay us." He lay there quietly for several minutes.

"What are you thinking?" Dave asked, gently running his hands through Sam's highlighted locks.

"That I like this," Sam said, smiling up at him.

Dave smiled back. "I know. At the beginning of this year, I couldn't have imagined any of this."

"I know," Sam said, absently running his hand across Dave's chest. "You know, I went out with both Quinn and Santana, but neither of them gave me what you do. It's not about sex, or being physical. It's about this to me. Being close, being together."

"So you don't want sex?" Dave said, looking down at him with a frown.

"Oh, God yes," Sam said punching him lightly in the chest. "I'm a guy! Of course I want sex! I just mean that it's not the end all, be all of a relationship."

"Okay, you had me worried there for a minute," Dave said with a chuckle.

Sam smiled and continued to trace the seams around the buttons of Dave's striped rugby. "I do love this. I can hear your heartbeat."

Dave's smile broadened, as he rubbed Sam's back and shoulder. "I love you, Sam."

Sam stopped playing with Dave's shirt and propped himself on his elbow to look him in the eyes. He searched them for a moment, eliciting a questioning and slightly worried look from Dave. He smiled broadly and said, "I love you too, Dave." He leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Their lips' meeting was like an electric charge to Dave, one that traveled all the way to his toes and back. His hand made its way from Sam's back to his hair. He pulled Sam into him as he lifted himself into Sam, smashing their lips together.

Sam's hand made its way to the hem of Dave's shirt and snuck beneath it. It brushed past the light fuzz of hair across his belly as he pushed up toward his chest. He broke their kiss just long enough to move to straddle Dave.

Dave's fingers found the buttons on Sam's shirt and slowly began unfastening them one by one. He leaned forward allowing Sam to slip his shirt above his head and their lips met again as he dropped back to the pillows. Sam's tongue slipped between his lips and Dave gently sucked on it. It was ecstasy. Dave had never found himself attracted to girls enough to ever get his far, and he hadn't dared to even think about doing this with another guy, so his senses were in overdrive.

Sam's shirt was fully open now and Dave's hands found their way around Sam's sides and traced the muscles of his back. Sam moaned at his touch. Dave brought his hands back around and traced Sam's abs, slowly moving upward across his chest then around his shoulders.

Sam leaned back allowing Dave to slide his shirt off. Dave took him in, from his disheveled locks to the waistband of his pants, trying to memorize every curve. "What?" Sam asked, still somewhat wary of his appearance.

"You're ... beautiful," Dave said, pulling him back down onto him.

"You are too," Sam whispered into his ear, just before taking his earlobe into his mouth. Dave moaned as Sam moved down his neck, alternating gentle kisses and licks. Sam then kissed his way up his jaw, before planting another on his mouth. He rounded his chin and kissed Dave's Adam's apple gently.

Dave shuddered as he felt Sam's breath on his chest. He clawed at the bed covers as Sam rolled his head round, allowing Dave's light chest fuzz to graze his chin and then his cheek as Sam's light stubble scratched teasingly at Dave's chest. Sam quickly latched onto one of Dave's large dark nipples gently sucking and then nipping. His lips formed a smile around it as his actions caused Dave to buck up into him unconsciously.

"Sam," Dave said, his voice low and husky.

Sam stopped what he was doing, lifting himself to look into Dave's smoldering hazel eyes. "You okay?"

Dave nodded, then, rather breathlessly, said, "Yeah, we're just kind of getting to a point of no return."

Now basically sitting on him, Sam could feel Dave's erection stretching at the denim of his jeans. Sam reached down and took the side of Dave's face in his hand, his thumb gently tracing over the 'beauty mark' on his cheek. "I'm ready for at least a little more if you are," Sam said smiling at him. He rolled forward slightly, allowing Dave to feel his own erection against his hip.

Dave sat up, kissing him again while reaching for the buttons of Sam's jeans. Sam slid himself back and lifted himself to his knees, both allowing himself access to Dave's button and zipper and Dave access to the rest of his fly. Once Dave had released the final button on his jeans, Sam lifted himself from Dave and in a fluid motion slid his jeans over his hips and came to lie beside Dave. Dave brought himself to his knees, and, though a little less gracefully, brought his own jeans down to his knees, then lay beside Sam.

Sam pulled Dave over him, tracing the muscles on his back while at the same time slowly sliding a foot down Dave's leg. The motion not only drove Dave wild, but also helped to slide his pants the rest of the way off. Dave followed suit and soon their bare legs grazed one another. The feel of the hairs on their legs gently brushing over each other had Sam clawing at Dave's back.

They could feel their erections sliding across one another, separated only by the thin cotton of their boxers. That cotton was beginning to get damp as their shafts began to prepare for what was to come.

Dave reached round beneath Sam, placing his hands on Sam's shoulder blades, as Sam began sliding his hands down Dave's back finding the waistband of his boxers. Dave ground into him as Sam's hands slipped into his boxers and squeezed his butt. Sam brought his fingers around and began slipping the material down.

Dave brought himself up onto his knees as Sam continued pushing at the material. His penis soon broke free and slapped against his belly.

Sam gently pushed him over so that he was once again lying where he'd started. Then Sam pushed up onto his knees and reached for his own boxers.

"Wait," Dave said. Sam looked at him strangely for a moment. The look was replaced by a smile as Dave placed his hand on Sam's chest, slowly dusting over it, pausing to circle each nipple before tracing down his abs, following the scant trail of hair from his navel toward his goal. Dave ran a finger over Sam's waistband, and then gently brushed his erection with the back of his hand. Sam shuddered.

As Dave lightly traced Sam's balls with his fingers, his erection throbbed, straining at its cotton bindings. Dave placed the palm of his hand over the shaft, moving ever so slowly up to its head. Sam shuddered again, as Dave's palm grazed the tender underside of his head. "Oh God," Sam whimpered.

With a satisfied smile, Dave curled his fingers into Sam's waistband and gently freed Sam's penis from its prison. Once his boxers were to his knees, Sam lay down atop Dave.

Sam quickly tried to use his foot to slide their boxers off just as they had their jeans, but he didn't count on the new found freedom his balls enjoyed. They dangled between Dave's thighs, his hairs and Dave's mingling, teasing, and tickling; the most basic movements eliciting such extreme pleasure.

Once he managed to free the both of them from their boxers, Sam began to drag himself up Dave's torso, both of them enjoying the feel of full body contact. When he was even with Dave's chest, he licked each nipple in turn, and then kissed his way up Dave's throat to his mouth.

Their lips met again, their tongues darting in and out; playfully biting at each other's lips. Dave drug his fingers across Sam's back then laced them through his hair. Sam pushed his arms beneath Dave's, hugging him tightly to him, and then moved to run his fingers through Dave's hair.

Their shafts rolled over one another. The moist, sensitive underside of Dave tip skimming across Sam's firm abs. He bucked up into Sam causing him to groan.

Even the simplicity of the sounds they made was becoming excruciatingly pleasurable. They could feel the vibrations of their moans though the shared contact of their chests, the hum though their lips and tongues. They ground themselves together unconsciously, their bodies on autopilot.

Sam could feel himself getting closer. He could feel his balls contracting; his breath was coming in short pants. He thought he could even feel Dave balls pulling themselves closer to his shaft. Now it wasn't just their shafts rubbing against one another, but their balls, their nipples, their thighs, their calves. Every nerve ending was firing at once, it was blinding.

Dave suddenly bucked forward, clawing at Sam's butt. Sam's back arched and he let out a choked scream as he orgasmed between them.

Sam's spasms combined with the feel of the warm liquid now spreading between them pushed Dave over the edge as well. He screamed into Sam's shoulder as Sam hugged him tightly.

They lay there silently, breathing heavily, wrapped in each other's arms. They each nuzzled the other's neck; mild aftershocks occurring when either of them dared to move anything more than their necks.

They lay there for the longest time, sharing tender kisses until the majority of the sensitivity had faded.

"I really do love you," Dave said, smiling up at the ceiling, his fingers tracing lazy patterns across Sam's back.

Sam pulled back to look at him. "I love you too." He leaned down to kiss him, and then pulled back with a chuckle.

"What?" Dave asked.

"I'd love to stay like this forever," Sam said, grinning.

"But?" Dave said frowning.

"But if we stay like this too long ... we're gonna stick together." His grin broke into a full out laugh, lowering his forehead to Dave's shoulder.

"Oh, the joys of manhood!" Dave burst out laughing as well. "Man, this feels funky."

"Shower?" Sam said, picking himself up.

"Uh, yeah, I think so."

Sam gingerly raised himself from atop Dave and made his way off the bed. His legs felt like jelly beneath him as he offered Dave his hand. Dave took it and slid himself off the bed as well.

"Do you feel as...?" Dave started.

"Yeah," Sam answered, smiling.

Dave pulled Sam back against his chest. "I've probably done that ... on my own ... like a hundred times, but it's never felt like that."

"I know; I still can't believe that we never actually ... touched each other."

They shared a giggle and headed for the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Sam started the water. He made it a little warmer than he usually liked it, recalling that in the locker room Dave liked his showers nearly scalding. He pulled the curtain open and followed Dave in. He eased Dave under the cascade and grabbed the body wash. Once Dave was wet, Sam squirted some of the wash into his palm, and began to lather Dave's hair massaging his scalp. Dave seemed to melt under his touch. Sam let the lather run down Dave's chest and back and added more wash to his hand. He soaped up Dave's back, butt and legs then turned him around to lather his chest. Massaging the lather into Dave's skin, he was careful to wash all of the remnants out of the fine hair on his chest and stomach. He then started to delve lower, but Dave stopped him.

"Un, uh ... my turn."

Dave reversed their position, pushing Sam under the warm stream. Sam leaned his head back, soaking his hair.

"You know, I think I like your hair like that," Dave said.

"What?"

"It's darker when it's wet, I like it like that. I think the highlights are cute, too, but I like it darker, it brings out your eyes."

Sam smiled at him as Dave started lathering his head. Dave was able to move along a bit swifter with Sam since he was essentially hairless above the waist. Soon they were both done, except for their genitals.

"Okay, what now?" Sam said, grinning.

"Don't worry," Dave said. "I have an idea."

By now they were both semi-hard again. Dave poured some of the body wash into his palm and stepped closer to Sam. Reaching down he took both of their shafts into his hand and began stroking, slowly lathering them. Dave then began rubbing the lather into their balls. Sam took up massaging their now rigid shafts.

Dave pressed forward, causing Sam to lean against the tile wall. There was a small shock as his back contacted the cold tile, but it was quickly replaced as Dave took his nipple into his mouth. Sam let out a moan and gently squeezed their shafts together. Dave braced his hands against the tile behind Sam, and spread his feet bracing them against the sides of the tub. A good thing, too, as Sam angled both of their shafts up causing their sensitive undersides to rub together. They both shuddered.

It wasn't long before they were once again emptying themselves. Sam continued to milk their shafts until they became too sensitive. Dave had to help steady him as his legs were again like jelly. They kissed again as they made sure they had washed away all remnants of their lovemaking.

Turning off the water, they grabbed towels from the bar.

* * *

><p>The hotel room door opened and Blaine and Kurt walked in, both loaded down with shopping bags. They walked over to their bed and began unburdening.<p>

"That's funny, I figured Sam and Dave would be back before us," Blaine said.

"Hmm? Maybe they went down to get a snack or something," Kurt said shrugging.

Blaine glanced over to the other side of the room. "Uh, Kurt maybe we should go get some coffee or something."

"Don't be ridiculous, we just had coffee."

"Um, ice," Blaine said heading for the ice bucket. He grabbed it and then grabbed Kurt's arm heading for the door. "We need ice ... and pops."

"Oh for heaven's sake it doesn't take both of is to go get ice or pops."

As they neared the door to the room the bathroom door swung open. Dave and Sam both stepped out laughing and wearing nothing but towels around their waists. Kurt's eyes grew wide. Blaine just scrunched his eyes closed, sighing.

"Uh, hi guys," Sam said. They were both blushing. Dave was red nearly all the way to his navel. "Uh, we were just..."

"Shaving!" Dave said.

"Yeah, getting ready for dinner tonight," Sam added nodding.

"What kind of pop did you want Blaine?" Kurt said absently, staring somewhere unfocused between and well beyond the two.

"Uh, anything citrusy ... Mountain Dew, Mellow Yellow," Blaine said quickly. "You guys want anything?"

"Sure Coke would be great," Sam said. Dave just nodded. "I've got some change in my pocket..."

"That's alright, I've got it," Kurt said quickly exiting the room.

"Oh my God!" Dave said.

"Sorry," Sam said to Blaine as the latter sank down onto the end of his and Kurt's bed.

"Um, were you guys finished?" Blaine asked, looking up at them sympathetically.

"Uh, yeah," Sam said looking over at Dave.

"Were we that obvious?" Dave asked, the blush only barely starting to fade.

"You weren't ... but," Blaine nodded toward their bed. Dave's shirt was tossed to one side, their pants and boxers were haphazardly strewn across the floor at the foot and Sam's shirt was hanging either from the headboard or the lampshade, Blaine couldn't tell from this angle.

Dave quickly moved over and began tidying up.

"As long as you had fun," Blaine said smiling up at him.

"We did," Sam said, a dopy (or blissfully drugged) look spreading across his face.

"Don't need to know!" Blaine said laughing.

"Uh, is Kurt okay?" Dave asked, placing their clothes between their bags.

Blaine smiled over at him. "Yeah, he's just a little more of a romantic than a mechanic, if you know what I mean. We're working on the intimacy thing."

"Oh," Dave said. "I can't say much, I've never done anything before today either."

"I couldn't tell," Sam said plainly.

"Okay, too much information!" Blaine said, laughing. The blush returned across Dave's chest, as Sam joined Blaine in the laughter.

Sam walked over to Dave and the two began getting dressed. They were just finishing when Kurt reentered the room.

He sat the bucket of ice and the sodas down on the table, then turned and said, "I hope we didn't interrupt anything."

"You didn't, Kurt," Sam said reassuringly.

"Oh thank heavens!" Kurt said, literally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Listen, guys," Dave said. "I think we are gonna head downstairs and look for some souvenirs and stuff. Where's Mr. D?"

"The teachers were having a pow-wow downstairs," Blaine said. "They're either planning out tomorrow's adventure, or hitting the bar. They have had us non-stop for what, going on 72 hours now?"

Dave and Sam both cringed then dismissed themselves.

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

Okay, if this one doesn't get a rise ... um ... I mean a review out of you then nothing will!


	15. 15  Control

**Author's Note**:

Well it's sounds like you all liked the last installment, so maybe you'll like this one as well. Interesting what happens when an idea gets planted isn't it?

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**15 - Control**

* * *

><p>"So, were they really...?" Kurt bobbed his head. "When we came in?"<p>

"No, they were done," Blaine said, giving him a compassionate smile.

"So they were really."

Blaine nodded.

Kurt thought for a minute or two then quickly blurted out, "Do you want to?"

Blaine stared at him half in shock.

"I ... uh..." Kurt stammered.

Blaine stood and walked over to the slightly younger boy. He reached out and took hold of both of Kurt's hands. "Kurt, I've told you, I'd love to make love with you whenever you're ready. I know it makes you uncomfortable, and I'm never going to push you."

"I just..."

"Are you ready? And I mean really ready, not just because of anything that Dave and Sam may or may not have done or because Carole put those condoms in your bag."

It had been cute. Kurt had blushed the deepest shade of crimson Blaine had ever seen when he found them in his bag. Finn had come in later and explained that she had put some in his bag as well. Following the pregnancy scare with Quinn last year, Carole wanted them to both at least be prepared, whatever their choices may be on this 'sleepover' trip.

"Blaine, I truly love you, and I want to make you happy."

"Were gonna get stuck in one of those causality loops Mr. D was talking about with Sam then, because I wanna make you happy too." Blaine smiled. "Look, I just need you to be sure, because I'm just as happy doing nothing but cuddling as long as it's with you."

"Liar!"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not perfectly happy just cuddling," Kurt said. "I'm just too terrified of making a mistake or being bad at it that I just..."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh. "Kurt, you ... are ... adorable."

"You're judging me again," Kurt said with a pout.

"No, I'm not," Blaine said kissing him on the forehead. "You could never be terrible, I promise."

"You'd be surprised."

"Look, it's entirely up to you."

"Okay then let's go," Kurt said dragging him toward the bed.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Blaine said. "Here, sit down." He led Kurt to the bed and once he'd seated him, Blaine went to his bag and grabbed something.

"Baby, they're in my bag," Kurt said.

Blaine bowed his head and laughed. He then crossed to the door, opened it and placed the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the outside.

"Good idea."

Blaine just nodded and returned to stand in front of him. "I need you to promise me one thing, Kurt."

"What's that?"

"If at any point, and I mean any, you're uncomfortable you tell me and we can stop."

Kurt nodded.

Blaine leaned down and took hold of the side of Kurt's face. He kissed him deeply, pushing him back onto the bed. Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine's curls. Talking Blaine out of his gel habit had been the best idea Kurt had had in a long time.

Blaine began to unbutton Kurt's shirt. When he'd reached the last button he moved down and lightly licked the scar on the side of Kurt's neck. Neither of them were sure why, but Kurt found it to be the kinkiest thing he'd ever experienced and Blaine absolutely loved the goose bumps that it caused. Kurt leaned up just long enough to shrug off his shirt then lay back on the bed.

Blaine kissed and nibbled down Kurt's neck and across his smooth chest. He paused just long enough to kiss and lick at each nipple gaining a delicious shudder from Kurt each time; then he travelled the rest of the way down to his navel. He playfully lapped at Kurt's navel, as his hands busied themselves with his belt and pants. Once his pants were unfastened, Blaine paused and looked up at Kurt. "Remember, you promised," he said quietly.

"Um, hmm," was all Kurt could manage.

Pushing his pants open farther, Blaine gently lowered the front of Kurt's boxer briefs, exposing his semi-flaccid penis to the air, and tucking his briefs behind his scrotum. Kurt inhaled sharply as Blaine took hold of his shaft and pulled it up toward his stomach gently licking the soft underside. He smiled as Kurt squirmed beneath him, then moved to swirl his tongue around the tip of his penis, and darted it into the slit. Blaine then moved down and started licking Kurt's balls, lavishing them both with careful attention before licking his way up the shaft to take the head in his mouth.

Kurt's shaft grew longer and harder as Blaine gently sucked. He began a slow bobbing motion on the shaft as he took Kurt's balls in his fingers and began rolling them teasingly.

Kurt's hands found Blaine's head and his fingers started twisting themselves in the curls as the warm moist feeling surrounding him made his eyes roll back in his head. Moans came from his lips.

Blaine smiled around Kurt's shaft as he suddenly had an idea. Blaine began to hum softly. The vibrations travelling through his lips to Kurt's tender shaft.

"OH MY GOD!" Kurt yelled.

Blaine smiled proudly despite himself. Kurt began pushing on Blaine's head urging him to go faster, to take him deeper. Blaine tried to oblige, but started to gag when he tried to take him too deeply. He decided to change up his technique. He removed his hand from Kurt's balls and instead gripped the base of his shaft, using both his mouth and his hand to simulate taking him in more deeply.

Kurt was now panting heavily, as Blaine used his other hand to gently tug on his balls, pressing and rubbing his thumb against the sensitive area just beneath them. Blaine could tell that Kurt was getting close, his breathing had changed and his balls were starting to offer resistance as he tugged, so he picked up his pace.

"B ... Blaine, I'm ... I'm..."

Kurt's hands flew to the bed covers, bunching them in his fists.

"OH GOD!" Kurt screamed as he orgasmed.

Blaine tried his best to keep up, but was unsuccessful. Once Kurt's spasms had subsided, Blaine began to lick him clean, first his balls, then his shaft and stomach.

Blaine slowly crawled up the bed to lie beside Kurt. "Are you okay?" he asked tracing his finger across Kurt's chest, then up his jaw, bringing his hand to rest on the side of his face.

Kurt turned to him and grinned looking fairly nearly drunk. "I can't believe ... wow. Remind me again why I was ever opposed to doing that."

Blaine grinned and leaned in to kiss him. Their lips met then their tongues. Kurt tasted something, it was salty, and the scent in his nose was slightly musky. "_Oh Gaga, that's ... me I taste!"_ Kurt rolled over toward Blaine. "My turn ... or your turn ... whatever!" Kurt said, his blue eyes burning with lust.

_"I've created a monster!"_ Blaine thought, suppressing a laugh.

Kurt tried mimicking what Blaine had done, first starting with kisses as he removed his shirt. Once Blaine's shirt was opened, Kurt rocked back and stared.

"Is everything okay?" Blaine asked with concerned. "We can stop if you want to."

"No. No!" Kurt said, "I just didn't realize that you were so ... fuzzy."

Blaine laughed, "I'm ... sorry?"

"Don't be..." Kurt said, running his fingers through the scant hairs across Blaine's chest and stomach. "I love it."

"You're adorable!" Blaine laughed.

Kurt unfastened Blaine's jeans and just as Blaine had done, he opened them and pulled down his boxer briefs tucking them behind his scrotum. Kurt was almost giddy.

He had, as most teens have, gone online when his curiosity got the better of him. He looked at the porn and what pictures he could find that were available for free. He knew what men looked like, but this was different. This was his man, the man he loved. For once it didn't seem strange, it didn't seem voyeuristic or gaudy. It seemed ... intimate.

He leaned down and breathed in Blaine's scent. It was musky, manly. He tentatively stuck out his tongue and licked at the underside of Blaine's shaft. It was slightly salty, just as he'd tasted on Blaine's tongue earlier. To his delight, Blaine shuddered at his touch. He reached the tip and found a bead of clear liquid there so he tasted it. It was a bit salty and strangely a little sweet. He lapped at it again and felt Blaine shudder beneath him again.

It wasn't at all like Kurt had imagined. He'd watched bits of 'those movies' and he'd always found them mechanical and staged. You could see in their eyes that it was either a job or that it was an obsession. There was no love in it ... at all.

Kurt moved down and licked at Blaine's balls, the hair made it difficult, strange. He stopped to remove a stray hair that was stuck to his tongue. Blaine didn't seem to mind the momentary pause, so Kurt continued. He sucked lightly on each of Blaine's balls gaining low and lustful moans for his efforts.

He moved up and began to lick the shaft, sliding his hands up to gently glide across Blaine's stomach and chest. Kurt wasn't sure why but the light fuzzy hairs were definitely exciting him. He traced them lightly, allowing them to tickle his palm. Then he brushed over each of Blaine's nipples. Kurt was amazed as they each perked up and became more rigid as he played with them.

To be honest, Blaine had never considered his hairiness. It was there, a holdover from his genetic past, but with Kurt... It was not only an apparent turn on for Kurt, but he was finding that Kurt's gentle touches and teases were driving him wild. It seemed as if each and every tiny hair was hardwired to a single nerve which was responsible for one thing ... turning him on. And the lighter the touch the more insane it was driving him.

Kurt decided to try and take Blaine's shaft into his mouth. He did so and almost gorged himself on it. He pushed his mouth down taking as much in as he could and gagged, jerking back.

"Easy, Kurt," Blaine said breathlessly. "Slow, don't hurt yourself."

Kurt swallowed and tried again. He managed to take a good bit in and started bobbing up and down just as Blaine had.

Blaine suddenly jumped and hissed. "Easy ... teeth." Blaine tenderly placed his hands on either side of Kurt's head and guided him slowly up and down his shaft. Again Kurt's teeth raked across the tender flesh. "Ungh!"

Kurt jerked back, sitting on his heels. "Oh my goodness, I'm hurting you!"

"No," Blaine said kindly. "You just have to be careful with the teeth. It's okay."

"I bit you!" Kurt said, standing up then plopping down on the bed beside him.

Blaine tried to stifle a laugh; it ended up coming out like a snort. "We could just stop. It's okay, really," Blaine said reassuringly.

"It is most certainly not 'okay'," Kurt said. "After what you just did for me ... to me ... we're not just stopping."

"Well, I could just..." Blaine mimed jerking himself off.

Kurt glared. He wasn't sure if he was hurt, embarrassed or pissed off. In exasperation he reached out and took hold of Blaine's nearest nipple and pinched as hard as he could.

Blaine jerked as if he'd been touched with a cattle prod. His entire body tensed and he let out a hiss twice as loud as the one before.

"OH MY GOD! I hurt you again! I'm so sorry! I'm so incredibly bad at this! Worse than a baby penguin ... I bite!" Kurt looked on the verge of tears, first he'd bit the love of his life and then... "Are there gay hermit monks?"

Blaine was breathing heavily and his eyes were wide as he took hold of Kurt's hand and squeezed. "That ... didn't ... hurt."

Kurt stared into Blaine's eyes, utterly confused. Then he glanced down toward Blaine's penis. Where it had begun to grow limp at the pain from the teeth, it was now once again at full attention.

_"Oh my!"_ Kurt thought. He grinned evilly. He took hold of Blaine's nipple again and this time pinched and twisted. Blaine writhed beneath him, balling the bed covers in his fists; he seemed unable to make any kind of coherent phrase.

Kurt replaced his fingers with his mouth, licking and biting alternately.

"Oh, Gah," was all that Blaine could muster.

Kurt reached down and lightly grazed over the hair covering Blaine's scrotum, making Blaine moan louder. He took hold of Blaine's shaft and began stroking. There was so much of the clear liquid coming from the tip of Blaine's penis that the shaft was absolutely slick.

Blaine began bucking his hips, forcing himself up into Kurt's hand; Kurt began switching between each of Blaine's nipples. Blaine was usually so in control and Kurt was thoroughly enjoying the ability to make him lose it completely.

Blaine's breathing became short labored pants. "I ... I... Ahh!" he screamed, a shudder running through his entire body. Rope after rope of semen erupted from his shaft as he convulsed. It covered his stomach and even reached his chest and chin. He lay there, whimpering, quivering.

"Oh, my," Kurt said, unconsciously raising his hand to his mouth. He felt the dampness on his hand as he touched his lips. He began to giggle.

Blaine finally recovered enough to open his eyes. He looked over toward Kurt, his eyes still glazed over. "Come here!" He reached up and grabbed the back of Kurt's neck and pulled him into a kiss. Blaine fell back to the mattress, still breathing heavily. "My God, I've created a monster."

Kurt laughed again. "Stay right there, I'll get you a towel." He jumped up and grabbed one of the towels that Dave and Sam had discarded and handed it to Blaine.

Blaine took it and began wiping at his chest; with the other hand he touched his chin. He wiped the droplet of semen he found there with his finger. Holding it up, he looked at it, then over to Kurt. "Wow!"

Kurt smiled at him.

"I have never cum that hard in my life!"

Kurt shrugged.

"And you thought you couldn't do it!"

Kurt smiled and leaned down and kissed him. "Oh Gaga!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"I just realized," Kurt said, turning to look at the piles of shopping bags on the opposite bed, "we're on Sam and Dave's bed!"

The two looked at each other and cracked up.

* * *

><p>Later the two were reclining on the sofa, their shirts back on, but still open. They had their heads resting on one another. Kurt dusted his hand across Blaine's chest as Blaine rubbed lightly across his arm and back.<p>

"Did I really do okay?" asked Kurt.

"You are kidding, right?" Blaine asked. "You were there; you saw how you had me."

Kurt grinned. "I just... You just seemed to know a lot more about what you were doing." Kurt paused a moment. "I am ... your first, right?"

Blaine stopped and pulled back to look him in the eye. "Yeah, I told you I've never had a boyfriend before."

"You just seemed a lot more experienced, that's all."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," Blaine said smiling.

"Oh definitely!" Kurt said.

"No, I was just as scared as you."

"No you weren't," Kurt said rolling his eyes.

"Actually..." Blaine said, tipping his head to the side. "I was running through every time I'd ever touched myself to remember what felt good to me. Not to mention every movie I'd ever watched and fanfic I'd ever read..."

Kurt laughed. "You chose an excellent combination then."

"Well, I tried."

Kurt leaned up and kissed him.

"I wasn't lying you know," Blaine said as they broke the kiss.

"What?"

"When I said I was content just to sit with you like this," Blaine said smiling at him. "I'm not saying that I didn't love what we just did, but this is okay too, as long as I'm with you, to hell with anything else."

Kurt smiled at him broadly, and then got a strange look in his eye. Blaine looked at him questioningly. "I wasn't lying either when I said that I wasn't perfectly content with just this..."

Kurt moved around and brought his knees to either side of Blaine's, sitting in his lap. Smiling wickedly he leaned down and kissed him. Blaine slid his hands up Kurt's back and massaged the muscles, he leaned forward letting Kurt do the same.

Blaine moaned as Kurt ground forward, pressing their erections together.

"Oh God, I want you," Blaine said breathlessly.

"I want you too," Kurt said.

Soon, the shirts were gone. Kurt slid his hands down Blaine's chest and stomach to find the button on his jeans. With some slight fumbling he had them open. He moved down out of Blaine's lap kneeling. Kurt freed Blaine's erection and leaned down to take it into his mouth, but Blaine stopped him.

"Wait, I have a better idea," Blaine said.

Blaine reached out and unfastened Kurt's pants and tugged them down, then pulled him back into his lap. Kurt moaned as their erections met and Blaine wrapped his hand around them, gently stroking. Kurt leaned down and brought their lips together again, running his fingers through Blaine's curls.

Words gave way to moans and conscious thought gave way to instinct as they explored.

* * *

><p><strong>End note:<strong>

Yeah, a bit of a cliffhanger, I can't spoil you now can I?


	16. 16  Busted

**Author's Note**:

I'm glad to hear that most everyone liked the last chapter. Well you both made it past my suggested (thanks Wind) 125 reader mark, and it's "Friday, Friday, Friday"... Sorry, not sure why, but the original version of that is just a little ... annoying and the boys' version is cute ... guess I'm just biased. (I'll own it.)

Okay, enough blather from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**16 - Busted**

* * *

><p>Dave and Sam walked down the hall, Deen following them a few paces back.<p>

Sam stopped suddenly at the door to their room, Dave very nearly running into him. He was staring at the door knob. Dave looked at him questioningly, but he quickly grabbed the knob with both hands, and then reached up and knocked loudly on the door.

"I thought you had the key with you?" Deen said, catching up to them.

"Oh, yeah!" Sam said laughing rather unconvincingly. "Duh!" He slipped the keycard into the door and opened it slowly, yelling, "We're back guys!"

"We were beginning to wonder if you guys had gotten lost," Kurt said from beside Blaine on the sofa.

"Nope," Deen said. "Whatchya watching?" he asked, sitting in the nearest overstuffed chair.

"It's a hotel channel that lets you know things that are going on around the city," Blaine said. "Pretty cool actually."

Sam sat down beside Blaine on the couch while Dave sat in the overstuffed chair nearest Sam.

"Well Schue said we have about an hour ... hour and a half until dinner," Deen said. "You guys want some pops or something while we wait to meet the others? My treat."

"Sure, why not," Kurt said. "I'll go get them; I could stand to stretch my legs." As he stood up, Blaine snagged his belt and pulled him back to tuck in the back of his shirt. "Thank you," he said smiling sweetly at him.

Deen reached in his pocket and retrieved the money for the items and handed it to Kurt. Once Kurt had what they wanted, he took the ice bucket and headed off down the hall.

A minute or two later, Deen excused himself to go to the restroom. Once he'd passed behind them, Sam waited to hear the snick of the restroom door then held out his fist to Blaine. "I think you dropped this..." Sam said quietly.

Looking at him questioningly, Blaine held out his palm under Sam's fist. Sam dropped a piece of red and blue material into his hand.

Blaine stretched out the Dalton uniform tie in front of him and blushed. "I forgot about that."

"Wish I'd have thought about it," Sam said, and they all laughed.

A few moments later Kurt walked back in carrying the bucket of ice, the drinks piled on top. "What's so funny guys?"

"Nothing babe," Blaine said, quickly shoving the tie into his pocket. He took the bucket from Kurt and pulled him to sit beside him.

* * *

><p>The five of them sat watching television while they waited for dinner. Deen received several texts as they sat. When the boys asked him about them, he just laughed it off telling them that Derrick was bored at his photo shoot.<p>

A short while later Derrick arrived and joined them. He grabbed a chair from the table and sat on it backwards facing them and propping his arms on the back. "Guys can we talk really quick?" he asked.

"Sure, Derrick," Sam said, reaching for the remote to turn off the television.

"My dear brother is a little concerned about something, and he's being a little delicate about it."

"Hey!" Deen objected, but Derrick glared at him.

"Hey yourself," Derrick told him. "I told you, we're all adults, or we're acting like we are, so it's time to put up or shut up."

Deen conceded and let him proceed.

"My brother ... your teacher, is a little concerned that he might have screwed up a little bit by being a little lax with you guys," Derrick said. The boys all looked at one another confused. "Well you see he's far too polite to actually say this, but I have no such affliction.

"Danny saw the tie on the doorknob, and he's fairly sure that somebody was gettin' busy with somebody else." Their eyes grew wide as each of them blushed.

Deen just lowered and shook his head, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Subtle, Bro."

Derrick shrugged. "From the look of you, I'd say you all had at least a little fun." They hung their heads. "Look guys, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're all guys, we all have needs, and we've all done it." He looked at his brother.

Deen rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we have all done it, but like I was trying to tell you earlier there are some things that aren't exactly proper to discuss in a student-teacher environment."

"Yeah, maybe," Derrick said getting more heated, "but I'll be willing to bet you that even if your school has a Sex Ed class that they don't cover the first thing about a gay relationship. Come on ... year's salary!"

"Mine or yours!" Deen said in a mix of anger and frustration.

Derrick glared at him.

Deen sighed, "No they don't."

"Two choices then, either take off the teacher hat and put on the friend hat, or step out because they need to talk about this with someone."

Deen considered for a few minutes then ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Goodbye tenure! Go for it."

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "We didn't really think about you getting in trouble since you were responsible for us."

"It's okay, Sam," Dan said. "You're consenting ... mostly adults." He took notice of Kurt's reaction and tapped the arm of the sofa to get his attention. "Look, you shouldn't ever be ashamed or embarrassed if you're with someone you love and they love you right back." Kurt gave him a half smile.

"Actually, I'm proud of all of you for waiting until you were in committed relationships," Derrick said. "It might sound like lip service, but it really does mean more ... feels about the same, but it means so much more."

Dan rubbed his temples and groaned.

"Sorry," Derrick said. "Look there is so much shit out there for you to deal with in this life just because you're gay that you really don't need to heap any more on yourself."

They all nodded in agreement.

"I think Danny's biggest worry was that you ... proceeded safely," Derrick said. "I mean, it's not like you have to worry about getting one another pregnant or anything, but ... well if you're ready to use it you should be ready to protect your equipment."

Sam laughed in spite of himself. "Sorry, my mother told me basically the same thing when she told me that she knew I was bi."

"Lucky ass!" Blaine said.

"Was it that he didn't actually have to come out, that she was understanding and accepting or that she was cool enough to talk about protection with him?" Dave asked.

"Yeah that!" Blaine said nodding. "My dad would run screaming if it even came close to coming up."

"My dad did run when he found you in my bed asleep, and you were still fully clothed," Kurt said. "Of course he did manage to hold it together long enough to give me those pamphlets from the clinic, so I guess he is trying."

"Most parents aren't really prepared to have 'the talk' with their kids in the first place," Dan said sadly, "and then when you pile on the unknown of something that they just can't relate to on top of it. They just can't handle it."

"Are you cool with this Mr. D," Dave asked apologetically.

"First, you can drop the Mister, I kind of tossed the teacher hat out the window for this conversation," Dan said. "Second, somebody didn't have 'girlfriends' to share with when he got home from a date, so he ... shared with me. And shared ... and shared..."

"I scarred him for life," Derrick said with a wicked grin.

"Oh, my!" Kurt said laughing.

"Okay, back to the subject at hand," Derrick said. "Did you guys use protection?"

They all shared pained expressions. "No," Dave said. Blaine and Kurt shook their heads as well.

"Wait, Kurt your step-mom actually sent some with you just in case," Dan said sounding disappointed.

Kurt hung his head.

"Hold up," Derrick said. "How many of you have ever been with anyone else?"

They all shook their heads but Sam. "I actually did it with Santana," he said hanging his head.

"Bitch girl?" Derrick said.

Deen cleared his throat, "No shame or embarrassment. Just please tell us you..."

"Oh hell yes," Sam said. "I'm slow, not stupid."

"You should be okay then, but you should really get in the habit," Derrick said. "It can help with clean up if nothing else."

"I don't know, I didn't mind our way," Sam said before he realized what he was saying. Dave's blush returned; a deep crimson. "That was out loud wasn't it?"

Derrick nodded, grinning.

"Shaving, huh," Kurt said.

Sam blushed as well.

"Okay, we're not going into any details," Derrick said. "If nothing else Danny'll have a stroke." Dan glared at him. "Actually there are a few lines that even I feel shouldn't be crossed unless absolutely necessary. That said if you're really stuck on something and need answers," he looked at his brother and considered for a moment, "you can come to me and I'll help you out."

Dan sighed. "If you're really stuck you can always ask, and either of us will at least try to point you in the right direction for the answer. You know you should really give your parents the chance to try and be involved. Dave, your folks seem pretty intelligent and open, and Sam from what you said about your mom your folks seem like it might be worth giving it a try. Blaine, honestly, I don't know your parents yet, but Kurt, your dad has always stood up for you and your step mom went to the trouble to actually provide the protection."

"Dad's just not up for this," Kurt said. "Musical theater and fashion he can handle, he doesn't always get it, but he can handle it. I'm afraid that's about his limit, though. Carole may be willing to try."

"My dad's moved on from the 'trying to fix me' stage to the just ignore it stage," Blaine said sadly. "My mom seems a little more accepting now, but ... she's just out of her depth." Kurt pulled him into a hug.

"Okay," Dan said. "It was worth a try. I know our parents would have absolutely freaked the hell out if he'd asked them even half the shit he asked me, much less the extra stuff he shared." He rolled his eyes.

"See I broke you in for them," Derrick said once more grinning evilly.

Dan glared at him. "You know I do have things that I could share. Let see there was Donna, my senior year; and Jenny; oh and Lisa, now she was really adventurous! There was this one position that she loved..."

"Point taken, point taken!" Derrick said quickly.

"I don't know," Dan said grinning, "Sam might have appreciated it at the very least."

The boys were all cracking up.

"Okay," Dan said, "you were right; we needed to take our big boy pills as discuss it like adults." Derrick nodded. "Look guys you need someone that you can trust and somewhere that you can fall back to as a safe place. This seems to be a popular phrase, but it's true, you're not alone. You have each other now, and you've got us if you need us. I can't say that I'm absolutely comfortable with all of this. As your teacher I have to keep your parents in my equation especially since you're still underage, but I can't just leave you hanging either."

"Here, guys," Derrick said. "Grab your phones and I'm going to give the rest of you my number. I know Danny's right, as your teacher it gets kind of iffy when this kind of subject comes up. He is an authority figure for you so talking about certain stuff can be uncomfortable for both of you." They all agreed as they pulled out their phones.

"Just call or text me if you have any problems and I'll try to walk you through it," Derrick said. "I'm assuming you didn't have any problems today." A wicked grin came across his face. "But then none of you are walking or sitting funny so I'm also assuming that you didn't really need the condoms." Dan shook his head, massaging the bridge of his nose again. "There's a technique to that, so don't try it until you look it up or ask someone."

Dan coughed. "That'll be one of those things that you should probably discuss with Derrick."

"Why? You're the one that helped me look it up," Derrick said smiling.

"Yes I did," Dan said in a sort of growl through gritted teeth. "The mantra, I believe, was to remember to stretch. Now if we don't change the subject from making your big brother uncomfortable, I'ma hafta smack you."

"I'm sorry," Derrick said, "you're just so cute when you're flustered, though you are doing much better than you used to."

"Older and wiser, brother," Dan said. "As are you, I would hope."

"Wiser maybe," Derrick said, "but in my business ... older ... never!"

"I guess we should be getting down to dinner," Dan said.

"Afterwards I've got a treat for all of you," Derrick said. "The guys I had my photo shoot with this afternoon are having a party this evening and you're all invited."

Dan looked at him. "All of us? Where and with whom?"

"It's okay, it's just a birthday party," Derrick said. "It's at a club, but I've made arrangements for the guys to go. They know that they're underage. Not making that mistake twice." He looked at Dave.

Dave rolled his eyes. "I've already apologized man."

"Okay, what is this?" Blaine said. "That night in the car when you told your rents D teased him about buying us drinks. What gives?"

Dave looked down.

"It's nothing," Derrick said.

"Okay, sorry, I don't mean to pry if it's private," Blaine said.

"I picked him up at a bar," Dave said, then sighed.

"You what?" Sam said.

"I couldn't stand it anymore so I looked up a gay bar in Dayton and got a fake ID from a friend of Azimio's," Dave said.

The boys looked at him in shock.

"I am impressed," Blaine said. "I thought Nicky and Jonny were players!"

Sam just gaped at Dave.

"What?" Dave said, "I was lonely."

"I'm just a little worried now," Sam said. "You picked up a male model at a bar in Dayton of all places. I'm not so sure I want to let you go to a club in New York City."

Dave grinned. "I never really thought about it like that."

They all started laughing.

"Guess you're gonna have to sign those papers from Chelle," Dave said. "It looks like I have a thing for models."

"What papers?" Kurt asked.

"The photographer on the shoot we went to with Derrick today," Sam explained. "She liked me and wants me to sign a release so she can use my pictures."

"She did?" Dan said.

"Yup," Dave said. "She even invited Sam to join a private shoot with Derrick."

Dan looked at Derrick, his eyes wide.

"What can I say, the kid's a natural," Derrick said smiling.

"Obviously," Dan said. He looked at his watch. "We better get going before Schue comes looking for us."

They all laughed and stood up heading for the door.

"She actually liked him enough to write a contract?" Dan whispered to Derrick as the boys filed out of the room.

Derrick nodded. "She'd love to have him do another spread. I almost killed her when I told her he lived in Ohio and still had to finish school." Dan laughed. "She wants to option him when he graduates."

"Damn and she brought him in on your shoot," Dan said. "Better watch out, you just added to the competition."

"I know," Derrick said with an exaggerated frown. The two brothers laughed as Dan made sure the door latched behind them.

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

Okay, yeah ... I was probably a little cruel. The end of the last chapter implied that there would be more. In all fairness though, their the boys' was limited and there was the danger of getting caught. They did go farther; I'm mean once the dicks are out... It was just "off camera," so to speak. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. I also hope that this alleviates at least some of the "parental" comments I've heard. What good of a chaperone can you be when you blatantly let them sleep together? (Well Dan's a light sleeper and there wouldn't be much of a story to write if certain things weren't allowed to happen...)

**Muppet Wiki:** jo definition: '''chiefly Scottish''' sweetheart, dear. 


	17. 17  Date Night

**Author's Note**:

Well you guys did it again. I was going to wait until Tuesday to post this to help fill the void left by no new Glee, but you guys surpassed the higher reader's limit I set. THANK YOU FOR READING! And as a thank you, here's the next chapter.

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**17 - Date Night**

* * *

><p>The cab pulled up in front of the club and everyone piled out. The boys started for the end of the long queue, but Derrick called out to them. He nodded toward the door so they shrugged and followed him. He walked right up to the very imposing man holding the electronic clipboard.<p>

"Kono!" Derrick said, slapping the man's hand then hugging him.

"Was wondering when you were gettin' here, brah," the very large Hawaiian man said. "Tyler said you were bringin' some friends."

"Kono, this is my brother Danny," Derrick said motioning toward Dan.

"Nice to meet you," Dan said offering his hand.

"You too, man," Kono said. "So you're the teacher, eh?" Dan nodded. "Cool my cousin's a teacher back on the big island." He turned and said something to the man beside him who disappeared for a moment then returned with a small box. He reached into the box and retrieved a couple of colored bands. Derrick held out his arm and Kono attached a band to his wrist. Dan followed suit. "The boys are minors, right?" Derrick nodded. Kono reached into the box and grabbed more of the same color bands, plus four of a different color. He glared menacingly at the boys as he attached both bands to their wrists and stamped the back of their hands with something. "You take these off ... we toss you out," he said gruffly.

Looking over at Dan, Derrick barely managed to remain silent behind the boys as he choked back a laugh.

Kono opened the rope barring entry to the left side of the doorway and let the boys enter. "Have a good time guys," he said winking at the older two as they followed the boys in.

Inside, dance music was blaring, the beat pulsing through them. Dave looked down at his hand. Under the interior lighting the invisible ink glowed showing a stylized 2 and a 1 with a downward arrow between them. "Still don't trust me, huh?" Dave said, having to half yell to be heard over the music.

"Only about as far as I can throw you," Derrick yelled back smiling. "Guys, pull in for a sec."

Blaine tugged on Kurt's elbow to pull him away from the sight. A sea of bodies filled the dance floor under the pulsing lights, the beat of the music adding order to the seeming chaos. A large wall of mirrors covered the back wall making the space look twice as large as it was.

"Okay, my friends are having a party in the back," he told them. He pointed to a door at the back right side of the club. "Just show the guy at the door your wrist; that's your pass," he said pointing at the colored band. "Don't go to the bar for drinks. Everything's big in Texas and everything in New York is fucking expensive, they charge like five bucks for a half can of Coke here." The boys all grimaced. "It's okay, there's an open bar in the back; my friend's and I are taking care of it all. Just come back there when you're tired of dancing. Other than that, HAVE FUN!"

The boys smiled and headed for the dance floor. Dan and Derrick smiled as they watched them cut loose then headed for the club's back room.

"Charlie!" Derrick said as they approached the man at the door.

"Hey man!" said the large African American man at the door. "This your bro?"

"Yup!"

"Nice to meet you," Charlie said offering his hand.

"You too," Dan said, shaking his hand.

"Thought you were bringing some more with you?" Charlie said, turning back to Derrick.

"They're out on the floor," Derrick said.

"Ah," Charlie said nodding. "Well go on back. You already missed the cake."

"Like I really need cake!" Derrick said laughing.

"I don't know man, it was good!"

"See ya man!" Derrick said as he led Dan through the door and up some stairs to the back room.

The back room was large and looked out on the dance floor. The mirrors it turned out were one way allowing privacy for the 'special guests' in the back while still allowing them to enjoy views of the club.

"Tyler," Derrick said walking up to a thin brown haired guy dressed simply in jeans and a white tee.

"Hey Derrick," Tyler said. He looked over from Derrick to Dan. "So you must be the big brother. Dan right?" he said offering his hand.

"Nice to meet the famous Tyler," Dan said smiling and shaking his hand. "I have much respect for anyone who can make my brother look good."

"What can I say, I like working with good looking people," Tyler said laughing.

"Well I do love your work," Dan said.

"Two Cokes please," Derrick said to the server that had come over to them. She nodded and walked away to get the drinks.

"Yeah, got any faves?" Tyler asked.

"Well, I have a print of 'Will kill Jedi for food' hanging in my office," Dan said as Tyler smiled. "I love the astronaut in the market too, but I think your videos are the best. You've got a wicked sense of humor."

"Thank you," Tyler laughed. "It comes from the people I hang out with." He looked over at Derrick who stuck his tongue out at him.

"Got a favorite vid?" Tyler asked.

"Oh that's easy, 'Payback' when Zachary gets fed up and throws the milk in your face," Dan said laughing.

"Oh he enjoyed that immensely," Tyler said. "Quite the professional that guy; he wanted to do a third take to make sure we got it just right. You just missed him too. He had to leave early; he has an early flight out tomorrow."

"Damn," Derrick said, "Dan's a big Trek geek."

"That's okay," Dan said.

"Nah, you'll just have to fly him out home over the summer," Tyler said to Derrick. He turned back to Dan, "You're a teacher, right, so you get a summer vacation. Make them fly you out. I love having parties, I'll invite everyone out for another one." Tyler winked at him. "Oh speaking of teaching, Derrick said you were here with your kids for a competition weren't you? So how'd they do?"

"Ah, they took third" Dan said. "They're a little bummed."

"Third?" Tyler said. "Wasn't it a national competition?" Dan nodded. "Third in the nation doesn't sound half bad."

"It's not, but they're teenagers, you can't exactly get them to believe that," Dan said.

"Where are they anyway?" Tyler asked.

"They're on the floor dancing," Derrick said scanning the dance floor. "There they are." He said pointing them out.

"Ah, the blonde and the other ones that look just a little out of place," Tyler said.

"Well they are from Bumfuck, Ohio," Derrick said. Dan shook his head.

"Hey, I'm originally from Bumfuck, Florida so I'm not saying much," Tyler said. "Hey who's the stylist for the tall thin one?"

"Kurt's his own stylist," Dan said laughing.

"Damn, he should go into the industry, he's good," Tyler said. "I take it this is their first date in the big city."

"You know, I'm not sure about Kurt and Blaine, but I think this is Dave and Sam's first public date period," Derrick said looking over at Dan. Dan shrugged.

"Hey," Tyler said turning to them with a mischievous grin, "what say we document it for posterity?"

"Oh definitely!" Derrick said grinning.

* * *

><p>The music was loud and they were enjoying every minute of it. Blaine was in full on teenager mode, bouncing and rocking to the beat. Dave was relishing in the freedom and anonymity of the place. He grinned especially wide when he noticed that they weren't the only same sex partners on the floor.<p>

"I love this," Dave said leaning in close to Sam's ear.

"Me too," Sam said. "And I love you." They came together and Dave leaned down to kiss Sam's neck.

Someone bumped into Sam and he went to say excuse me, but something felt strange. There was still contact where he'd been touched, something small and hard was poking him in the ribs.

"You need to come with us," said the guy standing behind him. He had spiky brown hair and clothing that looked rough, bordering on grungy.

Sam thought it very odd, because the guy looked rather dirty for someone who was out clubbing. He also had a nice shiner around one of his greenish eyes. "I'm sorry?" Sam said.

"You need to come with us now," the guy said again.

Sam felt a sharp poke in his ribs as the guy had said "now". He began to get alarmed. He hoped it was his imagination, but it felt like it could be a gun.

Dave looked at him with a worried expression.

"Those two, too," his partner said. The second guy was even scarier looking. He had medium length disheveled hair and a scruffy beard and was also sort of grungy looking. There were dark shadows around his eyes, not bruises, more like sleep deprived or smeared eye shadow.

Dave grabbed Blaine and Kurt, who looked at him questioningly. "They want us to come with them," Dave said. "Maybe Derrick and Mr. D are looking for us." Sam gave him a wide eyed look and shook his head slightly.

"Okay move," the second guy said, shoving Blaine forward. Blaine looked back at him strangely as he'd felt something poke him roughly in the back.

Kurt turned to him and said, "Hey you don't have to be so rough, jeez!" He noted that beneath the darkness the guy's eyes were roughly the same color as Blaine's.

"Just move!" guy number two said, shoving Blaine and Kurt toward the opposite side of the club from the door to the back room that Derrick had told them to go through.

"We're h ... here with friends," Sam said over his shoulder.

"Yeah, right," guy number one said. "You know it's not good to take other people's reservations. Who does that?"

"Reservations?" Dave said. "We didn't have any reservations."

"We know," said guy two. "We saw you cut the line out front. Some of us had to wait out there for hours to get in here!"

They entered a dark hallway on the back left side of the club. The music became muffled as the door swung closed behind them.

"We really should be meeting our friends," Kurt said, trying to turn and head back toward the dance floor.

"Not so fast there sweet cheeks," guy two said producing what Sam had feared, a gun. They were shoved into a dimly lit room in the rear of the club. One side was glass and overlooked the dance floor.

Blaine grabbed Kurt and pulled him back behind him. "Easy there, guy," Blaine said, his arms stretched out in front of him. "There's no need for that."

"Just shut up and move it," guy one said pulling his gun from his pocket as well.

There was a strange clicking noise in the background now that the music wasn't as loud. It sounded oddly familiar to Sam.

"What do you guys want?" Dave said holding his hands out wide.

"You know what we want," said guy one. "The flash drive, where is it?" Guy two cut him a sideways glance, but he just nodded over to the four of them.

Sam scrunched his eyes, tipping his head to the side like a curious puppy, looking from one gunman to the other. He started staring at guy two. There was something about him.

"Flash drive," Blaine said. "What the hell are you talking about? What flash drive."

"No need playing dumb," said guy one. "We know you got it."

"Look we don't know what the hell you're talking about," Blaine said. "We don't know anything about any flash drive." Kurt shook his head as he peered over Blaine's shoulder.

"Alright that's enough!" guy one yelled. "Look nobody tries to blackmail Joe Miletto and gets away with it, so who's first?" He rolled the gun on its side.

All four sets of eyes grew wide. Sam's eye brows went up, and he let out a sort of snort. "Kill shot!" he said using one of his goofy voices. "He turned it sideways! It's a kill shot!"

Dave grabbed him. "Are you nuts?" he whispered harshly as gunman number one smirked.

Sam shook his head. He was fighting an all out laughing fit.

"Sam, man, chill," Blaine said. "They have guns!"

Guy two tried to swallow a growing smile.

"So do you have a navel or not?" Sam asked laughing out right.

"Oh thank God!" guy two said. "Colton, man you were killing me!" he said, lowering his gun and looking over at guy one.

Guy one started laughing. "Sorry, Matt, I couldn't resist, he said it was their big date night in the city."

"And aren't you a werewolf?" Sam said trying to get himself under control.

"Used to be," Colton said. "Turns out cancellation is the true cure for lycanthropy."

The lights in the room came up. "You're good Sam," Derrick said, "but you're no fun."

"What the hell?" Dave said, looking over at Derrick. Dan stood beside him shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"Wait," Blaine said. "Oh my God! Stealing reservations, blackmail and flash drives? That's the plot from the movie!"

"Oh good heavens!" Kurt said sinking into a chair, his hand on his chest.

"Sorry, Tyler's idea, not ours," Matt said, pointing at to the corner where Tyler stood on a chair still snapping pictures of them.

"Sorry we scared you guys," Derrick said. "We just wanted you to get the whole New York experience ... in a controlled way. These are my friends Colton and Matt. We all do photo shoots with Tyler. This is Tyler's birthday party."

"Guns? Really?" Dan said.

"It's okay," Colton said, flexing the barrel of the gun he was holding. "They're just rubber, but they look real enough in the dark."

"You scared the crap out of us," Dave said punching Derrick in the shoulder. "Well, except for Sam. How the hell did you know?"

"What, I watch a lot of TV," Sam said shrugging. "And I have a thing for super heroes and that's basically what Kyle XY is ... well was." Matt shrugged and nodded. "Beside, they're hot, who wouldn't take notice them."

"Well I'd have noticed more," Blaine said, "if it hadn't been for the fear for our lives thing."

"I'm sorry we scared you guys," Tyler said. "I've got some cool shots for your scrapbooks though." He grinned and grabbed his iPad and an adapter out of his bag. He deftly popped the memory card out of the camera he was holding and inserted it into the adapter. A couple of flicks and swipes on the screen and he handed it to the boys. He quickly popped another memory card into his camera and started snapping more pictures of them looking at the photos. "You know, you guys should think about modeling," he said later.

"Actually Sam tried his hand earlier today and he was pretty damn good," Derrick said. Sam blushed.

"There you guys are!" said a young lady entering the room, her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She walked over to Matt and offered him a box of wipes out of Tyler's bag. "Here ya go, Mr. Scruffy."

"Hey, Jamie," Matt said, taking one of the wipes and starting to wipe away the 'raccoon' makeup. "Sorry, we were having fun." He offered the box to Colton.

"A little gun play, a little kidnapping," Colton said, taking one and wiping away his black eye, "you know guy stuff."

"Hey, Tyler," Jamie said, "when's the next time you're doing a shoot where you beat up Colton? I want in on it."

"We could bury him in the back yard like we did Matt that time," Tyler offered.

"Hey, I'm in," Matt said, "but I get to hold the hose this time. We should do him and Derrick both."

"Hey, what did I do?" Derrick asked.

"You had far too much fun that night spraying me while I froze my balls off!" Matt said.

"Hey you volunteered," Derrick said.

"No," Matt said, "I said 'why not'. You were supposed to look at the temperature and say because it's fifty degrees out there."

"Hey, I got you a blanket when we were done didn't I?" Derrick said laughing.

"You're Sif," Sam said gaping at Jamie. "Awesome movie!"

She smiled at him and said, "Thanks."

Dave wrapped his arms around Sam. "Your geeking out a little."

"Sorry," Sam said sheepishly.

"It's okay, I think it's cute," Dave said, then kissed him on the cheek.

"Oo, my hero!" Kurt said laughing. They were looking at a shot of Blaine holding his hands up in a warning gesture with Kurt behind him and Matt pointing his gun at them.

Blaine looked up from the photos and caught sight of Colton, his black eye now gone. "That wasn't real?" Blaine said astonished.

"Ty's a whiz with a makeup pen," Colton said winking at him.

"Oh, hey," Matt said, "Dan said you guys took third at your competition, congratulations."

"For losing?" Kurt said.

"Losing?" Colton said. "It was a national thing right?"

"Yeah but we came third out of the ten groups," Sam said.

"But you beat seven of them right?" Jamie said. "Plus all of the ones that they beat to get to the competition?"

The boys shrugged.

"Told you," Dan said.

"Told them what?" Kurt said.

"Nothing," Dan said. "Hey anybody thirsty?"

The boys agreed so they all went back through to the main party room. Derrick introduced them to several of the other guests and they had quite a time talking to everyone. After a while of mingling and several more trips to the dance floor, Kurt's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Sorry," he said, making a face.

"That's okay," Blaine said, "you're even cute when you're hungry." He leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey, if you guys are ready to go, I know a great little all night diner," Derrick said.

"I don't know, Bro," Dan said. "It's getting late; we really should be getting back."

"Come on, they're hungry," Derrick said pouting. "Just a quick bite and we'll get them back to the hotel."

Dan's own stomach voiced its opinion as it too rumbled. "Okay, I think I'm getting vetoed by my own gut."

"Don't worry, it's not far," Derrick said.

They made their way around and said their good-byes as Derrick called them a cab. Charlie came up and let them know their cab was there and they all started out. They had just made it to the main part of the club when Derrick snapped his fingers and said, "Crap!" Dan looked at him questioningly. "It's okay; go on out, Kono's holding the cab. I'll be right out." He dashed back up to the party room.

Out front, they saw Kono talking to the cabbie. He opened the cab door for them and told them to stop back by the next time they were in town. A short time later Derrick came jogging out, holding some rolled up papers in his hand.

A girl in the queue grabbed his attention and he walked back over to her. She held something out to him and he signed it and handed it back to her then leaned in as her friend snapped a picture of the two of them.

Watching the exchange from the cab Dan laughed as he realized what was happening. It suddenly dawned on the boys as well as they looked at him and then one another.

"Damn," Sam said. "We're idiots. A whole room full of celebrities and we didn't even ask for one autograph." The others groaned.

Derrick climbed in with them, and gave the driver the address. He turned and was met by his brother's smirk. "What?"

"I forget people actually think you're famous or something," Dan said laughing.

Derrick promptly punched him in the arm before looking at the rest of the guys. "What's wrong, guys?"

"They were so cool that they forgot to be star struck," Dan said smiling as he rubbed his arm.

"Yes they were," Derrick said smiling.

"Well they were just so cool, it was like they were normal people or something," Sam said.

"They are," Derrick said laughing.

"You are!" Dave said. "I was with D; I forgot you were famous too until that lady stopped you for your autograph."

"Here you go guys," Derrick said smiling and handing them the rolled up papers. "They thought you were cool too by the way. Not many people treat them like they're normal like that, that's why they have to use the back rooms."

The guys unrolled the papers to find a mini-poster from the club's gifts kiosk with a picture of the club's dance floor, the name of the club across the top and autographs of everyone who was at the party.

"Wow!"

"Cool!"

"Thanks, Derrick!"

Derrick leaned over to Dan and said, "By the way, Tyler's making them a disc with their photo's on it. I'll get it to you when he's done."

Derrick's cell rang and he pulled it from his pocket. His face lit up as he looked at the number. "Gimme a sec, Danny," he said as he held it to his ear.

"Mon chou!" he said. "Umm, oui. Désolé, je suis avec le frère." He cut Dan a sideways glance which Dan returned with curiosity. "Oui," he laughed. "Ensuite, as tu terminé avec la session? ... Bon. ... Bon. Quand seras-tu domicile? ... Non, vraiment? ... Grand, je ne peux pas attendre! ... Je t'aime tellement! ... Jusqu'alors. Je t'aime!" Derrick hung up and then re-pocketed the phone.

"Okay?" Dan said looking at Derrick strangely.

"Sorry, that was a friend from Paris," Derrick said.

Dan arched an eyebrow, and cocked his head to the side. "Okay."

* * *

><p><strong>End Note:<strong>

If you actually speak French, I am so terribly sorry if I mangled that translation.

Let me know what you all think!


	18. 18  Dessert

**Author's Note**:

Well, happy "used to be Gleesday". I figured some of you might be in withdrawal already since we're in reruns and since they moved it from Tuesday to Thursday today might be even more painful since you can't even get your usual fix so I'd give you something new even if you have to make the pretty pictures in your head...

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

_"The following chapter deals with some mature topics, reader discretion is advised."_

**18 - Dessert**

* * *

><p>Just as Derrick had said, the diner wasn't far. The cab pulled up and Derrick paid the driver, then they all got out. A bell on the door chimed as they entered.<p>

"Ms Mabel, you working tonight?" Derrick called as the door closed behind them.

"Yeah, who's coming in at this hour," called the older lady who came around the counter. "Vancey boy is that you? Long time no see!"

Derrick walked up and hugged her. "Now you know I would never pass up a chance to see my favorite girl when I was in town."

"You just love Mel's chili," Mabel said.

"That I do, but you know you're still my favorite girl," Derrick said, giving her a sweet grin.

She gave him a stern look, but then broke into a smile and hugged him again. "Who is this, the new boyfriend?" she asked looking back at Dan.

Derrick gave her a curious look. "Not quite," Derrick said.

"Wait a minute," she said taking a better look. "You've got to be Vancey's older brother, no?"

"Guilty," Dan said.

"Why y'all are the spittin' image," she said. "Nice to finally meet you. He talks about you all the time."

"Oh, he does, does he?" Dan said with a grin.

"All complaints," Derrick said, "Got something in the back Mabel?"

"Sure do, honey," she said. She hooked her elbow with Dan's and began leading him back to a room in the rear of the diner. "Don't listen to him hon', he's always talking about how proud he is of his big brother. How he teaches kids and that he wishes he could do half as much to help out."

Derrick blushed as the boys smiled and followed them back.

"These are actually four of my students here," Dan said, indicating the boys.

"What, all the way from ... Ohio, isn't it?" Mabel said.

"Yes, ma'am," Blaine said. "We were in town for a competition."

"Well I hope y'all did well," she said. She handed them menus and after asking them what they'd like to drink she went back to the front to get them for them.

When Mabel came back they all ordered soups and sandwiches; Derrick making Dan try Mel's famous chili. When the food came they all tucked in.

A short while into the meal the bell on the front door rang again and four people entered. They were chatting amongst themselves; at least one of them had a decidedly British accent. They all said hello to Mabel and she brought them back to sit in the rear area where the boys were. After they'd all ordered pie and coffee one of them excused himself.

Passing their table on the way back from the restroom the young man stopped at their table. "Derrick, Derrick Vance is that you?" he said, the accent definitely British.

"Dan?" Derrick said, looking up from his chili. He stood and shook his hand. "I haven't seen you since Trevor last year."

His brother and the boys looked on at the interaction.

"Yeah, long time mate," the stranger said. "We just finished up at the theatre and came for some pie. So what are you doing out here? Come to catch a show?"

"Business ... and pleasure," Derrick said. "I had a shoot earlier and Tyler had his annual birthday bash, you know I couldn't miss that."

"Not another cake fight?" he said shaking his head.

"No, actually I didn't even get any cake this year," Derrick said laughing, "but nothing beats one of Tyler's parties. How's the show going?"

"Good, good, I'm absolutely loving it," he said. "Thought it might kill me at first, but I'm settling in."

"At least you get to keep your clothes on this time." He nodded. "Oh, by the way, congrats on that Hero Award, I can't think of anyone more deserving," Derrick said.

"I can think of plenty, I just did a bloody PSA," he said with a slight blush.

"Oh man, I'm sorry. Where are my manners," Derrick said. "Dan, this is my brother D... Okay ... Dan, meet Dan." He shrugged and they all laughed. "He's a teacher in Ohio. These are some of his students, Sam, Dave, Kurt and Blaine."

Dan went round the table shaking each of their hands. There was a faint glimmer of recognition from each. When he got to Blaine, however, Blaine was absolutely gob-smacked, to use the British term. Kurt had to nudge him to get him to take the offered hand, and then once he'd taken it he had trouble letting go.

"Are you okay?" Dan said, grinning at him.

"Do you know who you are?" Blaine said, staring into his deep blue eyes.

"Yes, I do..." Dan said chuckling.

"No ... I mean ... you're ... you're Harry Freakin' Potter!" Blaine said gaping.

"Actually, no," Dan said, "I was just Harry Potter, there's a bloke on the internet who's Harry Freakin' Potter. I'm kind of jealous actually, Emma says he's the better Harry, but I think it's just because he sang."

Derrick laughed, "She would say that. How's she enjoying Brown?"

"Absolutely loving it!" Dan said, looking over to Derrick then looking back down at his hand.

Blaine finally realized that he still had hold of his hand, and let go, blushing. "I'm sorry. I just ... transferring to Dalton was like getting to go to Hogwarts to me. I felt like Harry, out of place, always being picked on and beat up for being gay." Blaine brushed absently at the back of his neck as he spoke. "Then I got to Dalton and found out that life could be different ... that I was actually worth something." He let out a little laugh, "I became a Warbler, just like Harry was a wizard."

Dan looked at Derrick. Derrick considered a moment, and then said, "They're all friends of Trevor."

Dan gave him a surprised look, then one of understanding. "Excuse me just a moment." He walked over to the table where his friends were sitting and said something to them. He kissed both ladies on their cheeks and grabbed his coffee and pie and came back to the boys' table.

"May I?" he asked. Derrick gestured a welcome and he sat down his plate and cup then pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm sorry, please continue."

Blaine sat there stunned. "You want to know ... about me? What about your friends?"

"Of course I do," Dan said. Derrick and his brother shared a smile. "Them," he said motioning toward his friends, "I see them every day, this was just an after work coffee. Friends of friends I only meet occasionally." He smiled. "First off, what's a Warbler, aside from the bird of course?" He took a bite of his pie as he looked at Blaine with genuine interest.

"They're an acapella group at our old school, Dalton Academy," Kurt told him smiling.

"Ah, that answered my second question," Dan said smiling again.

"So Dalton was like Hogwarts, huh?" Kurt said.

"Well I figured that the red and blue in the Dalton uniforms were a mixture of a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw." Blaine said with a shrug. "I figured I had the loyalty and chivalry of one and the creativity and wit of the other."

"What about the bravery and intelligence?" Dan asked smiling between bites.

"I wasn't feeling very brave or intelligent after letting the bullies beat me to a pulp," Blaine said frowning.

"You were beaten up just for being gay?" Sam said.

"It happens," Dave said hanging his head. Sam mentally kicked himself and reached over and took Dave's hand.

"Yeah," Blaine said, again rubbing absently at his neck. "That last attack was the last straw. My parents finally pulled me out of that school and transferred me to Dalton."

"Attack?" Danny said. "I know you'd mentioned that you were bullied at your other school, but you never said anything about an attack."

"I don't talk about them," Blaine said shaking his head and frowning.

"Them?" Kurt said grabbing Blaine's arm. Blaine shrugged. "Wait," Kurt said, "that scar on the back of your neck, going up into your hair?"

"A going away present," Blaine said, absently swirling his spoon round his empty bowl. "A teacher found me on the middle school merry-go-round unconscious and bleeding."

"Oh God," Dave said. "No wonder you were ready to tear me a new one for messing with Kurt."

"Why didn't you tell me about that one?" Kurt asked. "I mean you told me about the other one."

"It's over and done with," Blaine said with a weak smile. "Besides, I have you now." He reached over and took Kurt's hand briefly and squeezed it.

"Are you all gay then?" Dan asked.

"Everyone but us Dan's," Danny said. "Well Sam's bi, but close enough, he has a boyfriend." He smiled at Sam and Dave.

"You're not gay, but you do a lot of work for the Trevor Project, right?" Dave asked. "I saw a lot about the work you did when Mr. D gave me the link."

"Yeah, I grew up in the business," Dan said, "my parents were in it too, dad in publishing and mum in casting. Almost every other person I knew was a homosexual. To me, it was as perfectly normal as being hetero. I just could never wrap my mind around why anyone would have a problem with it."

"Who's Trevor?" Sam asked.

Dan and Derrick laughed. "Actually there is no Trevor, really," Dan said smiling.

"There's not?" Dave said. "I thought he was a kid who attempted suicide."

"He was actually a fictional character in a short film. A thirteen year old boy that was gay and attempted suicide because of it," Dan said. "It was due to run on one of your American cable networks and the creators wanted to run a helpline number to follow it ... to help kids who might be in the same situation."

"There wasn't one for them to use, though," Derrick said. "So they created their own. Now we all do what we can to pitch in and spread the word."

"I'm just glad that none of you guys went down that same dark path," Dan said.

"I was well on my way," Dave said. "I mean I never really thought about killing myself or anything. I let it turn outward, started attacking anything or anyone that put it in my face. Had I kept it up I know I could have hurt someone really badly. So the website did help. I checked it out while I was waiting to talk to Derrick that second or third time. Reading some of the letters to Trevor made me see that I wasn't alone. There was actually another kid who'd written a letter who ... he could have been writing a transcript of what was going on in my head."

Sam glanced over at Blaine; he was trembling and looked like his eyes were wet. "Blaine, are you okay?"

They all turned to look at him.

"Fine," he said quickly turning away and wiping at his eyes.

Kurt scooted closer and placed his hand on Blaine's arm. "No you're not; you're shaking like a leaf."

Blaine looked down at his lap fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Blaine, baby, talk to me you're scaring me," Kurt said quietly. "You're the strongest person I've ever met; this isn't like you."

"No," Blaine finally said. "No, you're the strongest person I've ever met. Me, I'm a fraud. I ... perform ... I act out what's expected for the song, or the situation."

"Come on, when Dave and I were having our problems, it was you who told me to have courage," Kurt said.

"The right word for the right occasion," Blaine said. "I've never been courageous in my life."

"Sure you have," Dave said. "You stood up to me when I was harassing Kurt and I'm twice your size."

"I stood up to you because I had Kurt with me," Blaine said with a rueful smile. "I was performing ... for both of you. That's what the protective friend is supposed to do. The real me... The real me is the scared kid hiding in his room with a handful of pills he stole from his mom's medicine cabinet!"

They all froze and stared.

Blaine's mouth opened, and then closed. His eyes closed and his head fell as his own words sank in.

Kurt reached over and touched Blaine's shoulder, tears in his eyes.

Blaine was breathing heavily. "I've never told anyone about that," he whispered. Kurt pulled him over into a hug.

"You didn't..." Sam asked shaking his head.

Blaine stared at his glass of water on the table. "I had my hand full of pills and the glass of water in my hand ... but ... I spilled some of it on my book bag. I'm not even sure why, but I reached down to clean it up. It was seeping into a partly open pocket so I opened it the rest of the way and he was staring at me."

"Who?" Kurt asked.

"The kid on the flyer," he said. "One of the nicer teachers at school gave it to me ... when she found out that the school wasn't going to do anything about the bullies. I'd just shoved it into my bag ... didn't even look at it. I was pissed the fuck off that no one was doing anything. Then they jumped me on the playground as I was walking home.

"His eyes were so blue ... and he was crying." Blaine's eyes were tearing up, but he choked back a laugh. "Actually it was the water spilt; it made it look like he was crying. When I went to wipe the water off, I actually stopped and read what it said:

"'I was never a great student and getting beat up because I was gay made everything worse. I even tried to kill myself over it. I almost ended my life because of some ignorant people. I'm glad I failed at suicide because my life is so amazing now.' *

"I remember thinking, 'he's right, they are ignorant'," he took a breath. "I remember thinking, 'they might be ignorant, but they're the ones who put me in the hospital' too. But the, 'you'll be the bigger idiot if you help them take you out' won in the end.

"I stared at the pills I'd dumped on the bed; then I put them back into the bottles and put the caps back on. I managed to put them back away before my mom found out."

"I'm glad the flyer did its job," Dan said, reaching over and patting his arm.

"We all are," Dave said.

"Yeah," Kurt said, kissing Blaine's temple.

"Y'all doin' okay in here?" Mabel asked. She was asking about refills, but grew concerned at all their somber faces and tears.

"War stories," Dan said grinning up at her. "Hey, how about a round of pie to lighten the mood? It's excellent, and it's on me."

"Sure why not?" Danny said. "What's good Ms Mabel?"

"They're all good, hon', but I'm partial to the lemon chiffon," she said smiling at him.

"Sign me up then!" he said.

She took the rest of their orders and headed to the kitchen to grab them.

A little while later, while the boys were eating their pie and asking 'Harry' about his adventures at Hogwarts, Derrick noticed his brother staring off into space. "You okay Danny?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, just thinking," he said.

"Must be deep, you were light years away." Danny looked at him strangely. "Hey I pay attention to the things you like too."

Danny laughed. "No, I was just thinking that I'm pissed the fuck off that no one is helping these guys." He shook his head. "I told you the other day; I was having flashbacks of what you went through, and now hearing how close Blaine came... I'm going to talk to the principal when I get back. I don't care if we can get any kind of funding or not, I'm going to start a support group for these guys and the guys like them that haven't come out yet. No pun intended."

Derrick smiled and shoved him playfully.

"What are you two plotting over there?" the other Dan asked from across the table.

"Leaving them with you and making a run for the airport," Derrick said.

"Oh, don't tempt me!" Danny said grinning.

"Well my flat is probably large enough," Dan said, "but don't they still need to graduate or something?"

"Damn, that's true!" Derrick said, snapping his fingers.

"Not to mention their parents would probably kill me," his brother said.

They finished their food and reluctantly said their goodbyes. This time they did remember to ask for an autograph. Dan was even nice enough to sign a few extra for their friends and let them snap a few pictures with their cell phones.

Nearly exhausted they returned to the hotel to get some much deserved rest.

* * *

><p>Back in their room they were all preparing for bed. While Derrick was in the bathroom, Blaine came to the door between the sleeping area and sitting area and knocked softly.<p>

"Mr. D, could I talk to you for a minute?" Blaine asked.

"Sure, Blaine," Dan said, patting the end of the mattress beside him.

Blaine walked over slowly and sat down. "I know this is probably a lot to ask, but could you not tell my parents about..."

"About how close you came?" Dan said, frowning.

"It's in the past now," Blaine said. "I haven't even thought about thinking about it since I transferred to Dalton." Blaine gave him a half smile and shrugged. "I had no friends before, nothing but the bullying. Now I have Kurt. Wes and David, we still talk all the time and Kurt and I go to see the guys perform and talk to them whenever we get the chance. They're like brothers to me. I have something now. No reason to resort to something like that."

Dan placed his arm around the young man's shoulders, pulling him closer as he had his brother the night before. "I understand. I don't want to open any old wounds."

"I just ... I heard you and Derrick talking last night, and it made me start thinking about it again."

Dan nodded. "Technically, with you, I don't have to tell your folks anything. You need to promise me one thing, though. You have all of us, use us. Talk to us if you ever even come close to thinking like that again."

Blaine nodded. "Don't worry, I will. Besides, if I ever considered it again, Kurt would kill me."

"Why would I kill you?" Kurt said entering the room. "Oh, if you ever considered doing what you told us about earlier."

Blaine smiled at him.

"You're right," Kurt said. "If you ever do it, I'll have your stomach pumped and then I'll strangle you."

Blaine stood and walked over and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too, now come to bed," Kurt said grinning.

Dan laughed and shook his head. "Play safe and keep it down so you don't wake Dave and Sam," he said with a grin.

"Shut up you," Blaine said, then turning and sticking his tongue out at him.

"Turnabout is fair play," Dan said before winking at him.

Derrick exited the bathroom as Dan removed his shirt. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just saying goodnight to the boys," Dan said turning back the covers.

"Night, Bro," Derrick said climbing in the bed beside Dan.

"Night."

* * *

><p>Blaine and Kurt walked into the sleeping area hand in hand. In the other bed, the other two boys were already curled up; Sam's head lay on Dave's chest, his arm across his stomach while Dave's arm was wrapped around him.<p>

As Blaine climbed into their bed, Kurt sidled up behind him, eventually spooning with him. Kurt leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"I mean it you know," Kurt said. "I'd do some serious damage if you ever tried anything like that again."

Blaine pulled away from him and turned in his arms. He looked Kurt in the eye in the dim light. "I wouldn't. I'm not there anymore."

"I just don't know what I would do..."

Blaine leaned forward and kissed him. "I told you, no worries; it's not going to happen again."

Kurt leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Blaine's. "I love you so much. I'm glad you finally decided to get it out, that's not something to keep bottled up."

"I know, I think that's why it finally came out," Blaine told him. "Enough thinking about bad history, let's think about a good future."

"Okay," Kurt said. "Hold me?"

"Of course."

Kurt rolled over and backed into his arms. Blaine wrapped his arms around him and placed his chin on his shoulder. "Sweet dreams."

* * *

><p><strong>End notes:<strong>

* For the moment the following link leads to the Trevor Project Flyer that Blaine describes. I found it eerie that it had just the right message.

ht tp:/theinspirationroom. com/daily/print/2008/9/trevor-project-boy-2. jpg


	19. 19  Swingers

**Author's Note:**

Okay, I'm just going to tell you that this chapter was inspired by a picture I saw.

I'm going to be nice and just let you get on with it...

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**19 - Swingers**

* * *

><p>It was Saturday morning and everyone was downstairs for breakfast. Kurt was telling Finn, Mercedes and Rachel about their adventure the night before. He produced two napkins from his pocket and gently smoothed them out, and then handed one to Mercedes and one to Rachel. They stared at them. "He even wiped his mouth on yours Mercedes!"<p>

Blaine took out his phone and showed them the pictures from the diner.

"I have one upstairs for Carole too," Kurt told Finn.

His stepbrother smiled at him. "Thanks, Bro, she'll love it!"

"I figured as much, she has all the books and the boxed sets of the movies," Kurt said grinning.

"This is absolutely priceless," Rachel beamed. "I wish I could have gone with you!"

"I know!" Kurt said. "Well they said they were taking us to see a show this evening. I just hope it's not 'Crossrhodes'. Don't get me wrong, Ms Rhodes is a great singer and all, but it just seems like a travesty to come all the way to New York just to see someone you already know."

"I'm hoping for Wicked, of course," Rachel said.

"Haven't you both seen that someteen million times already?" Mercedes said laughing.

"Yes," Kurt said, "but some things just never get old." Rachel nodded her agreement.

"I'm sure whatever it ends up being it'll wonderful," Blaine said, "after all, it's Broadway."

"True!" Kurt said. He gave a little squeal of excitement causing Blaine and Finn to laugh.

Finn watched as Rachel joined Kurt and the two did a little happy dance, Blaine laughing at them both. He thought a moment of what his life had become. He had Rachel, he lost her, and he had her back. He had a new brother who was turning out to be less of a pain and much more of an asset than he could have ever imagined. How better to figure out how to relate to his girlfriend than her best friend who shared most of her traits.

Finn looked over at Blaine as Kurt sank into his lap. His brother's boyfriend was nothing like he'd expected either. Blaine was a snappy dresser much like Kurt, he shared many of Kurt's traits, but ... he wasn't at all what Finn had pictured a 'gay guy' would be like. He'd felt like kicking himself a few weeks ago after he and Blaine had had an argument. They'd argued over a ballgame of all things, and Finn had loved every single minute of it. Blaine understood the ins and outs of the game in all its complexities, in the end, Finn had to give in and admit that Blaine was right. He'd wondered why he'd never given him the benefit of the doubt in the first place. Finn was shaken from his reverie by Rachel.

"So what are you hoping to see, Finn?" she asked.

Finn smiled. "I'm with Blaine," he said, "I'm sure it'll be great, whatever it ends up being. We're in New York City ... it's Broadway!" He reached over and Blaine gave him a high five.

Derrick came in and walked over to the teacher's table, greeting them all.

"Hey, Bro, finally get the phone removed from your ear?" Dan said grinning.

"Yes, thank you," Derrick said squinting at him, the others laughing. "You guys have a show tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I managed to just squeak in a student package deal with the money you managed to save us on the hotel and stuff," Schuester said. "I'm sorry I didn't get you one, but I didn't know you were going to be here then."

"That's okay," Derrick said, "I'm just glad you could get the kids in."

Dan noted that Derrick was a little more fidgety than usual and was beginning to wonder what was going on.

"Well, I've got a friend that can wrangle us tickets for a matinee show too if you guys would like," Derrick said.

Schuester shook his head, shrugging. "I'd really love to but we don't have anything left in the budget, nothing on the order of nineteen or twenty Off Off Broadway seats much less Broadway."

"No, this is a two p.m. matinee that he can get us the seats for ... our treat," Derrick said. "But can you guys make the two p.m. show if I give him the go ahead to get them?"

Schuester sat stunned.

"Derrick..." Dan started.

Schuester shook his head. "That's got to be hundreds of dollars, even for ... 'nosebleed' seats. We can't do that to you."

"Can you do it?" Derrick said slowly.

Derrick's gaze wore at him and Schuester looked at his watch. "We'd need to be there early to get them all organized and to get Artie off the bus and in and down to his seat."

"Wheelchair accessible, no steps into the theatre and he already knows to get floor seats with access."

Dan shook his head quietly; his brother knew how to work his magic.

Schuester looked at his watch again. "Yeah, if we can get them moving right now."

"Cool!" Derrick said smiling and reaching for his phone. He ran back out toward the lobby.

"Why did I just do that?" Schuester said.

Dan looked at him and tipped his head to the side. Reaching for his left sleeve, he slid it up revealing the cross tattoo on his arm. "The same reason I have this."

Beiste and Pillsbury laughed.

Schuester shook his head. "I'll call the bus company if you guys can get them moving..." The others nodded and Schuester got up and headed for his room to get the paperwork and phone number.

"Listen up guys," Beiste said standing up. The kids all turned and looked at her. "Mr. D's brother and his friend are trying to swing us tickets to another show this afternoon, but we need to get our butts moving so we can get there. Finish up and start packin' out your trash so we can get to the rooms and make it happen."

There was a palpable jump in the excitement level and they all hurried up their actions.

"Which show is it?" Rachel asked.

"We don't know yet," Pillsbury said. "He's on the phone right now getting the tickets."

* * *

><p>Later in the lobby the group was beginning to gather. Dan had made it down with his four charges and the others were starting to trickle down as well. He saw Derrick on his phone and went over to join him.<p>

Derrick saw Dan as he approached. "... coming now. Talk to you in a bit."

"Everything okay?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, just making sure we have the tickets," Derrick said.

"Well we're making it down, and the bus should be here any minute," Dan said.

As more of them made their way down, the bus finally pulled up out front. Derrick seemed to be getting more and more hyper by the second.

Dan finally turned to Derrick and caught him to stop his pacing. "Derrick, Bro, you're freaking out. Are you okay?"

"Sorry," he said, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay I'm just worried about getting there and making sure we get all the tickets." He had a seat on one of the large sofas in the lobby, and took out his cell and began typing.

A few minutes later and the rest of their party finally made it down from their rooms.

"Everything okay?" Schuester asked.

Dan looked at Derrick. "Yeah, I got hold of my friend and the tickets will be at the window," Derrick said. "They're split though, so we won't all be sitting together."

"That's okay," Schuester said, "we'll just divide them up, that's why there are four of us. I would have been surprised if anyone could have found twenty something seats all together at any show on this late a notice anyway. I only managed to find nine and ten for tonight's show and I booked over a week ago."

They called the kids and marched them all out and loaded them onto the bus.

* * *

><p>It was a relatively short bus ride to the theatre, and they all piled out of the front as the driver lowered Artie from the lift in the back. Derrick ran inside to make sure they had the tickets.<p>

"Oh my God," Sam said staring at the poster in front of the building. "This is Spiderman!"

"Oh, joy!" Quinn said. "A comic book musical."

"Come on Quinn," Finn said frowning. "It's supposed to be pretty good and we're going to see the other show tonight anyway."

"Well froggy's gonna love it at least," Santana said rolling her eyes.

"Don't listen to them," Rachel said, as she walked up between Sam and Dave. She hooked Sam's elbow with hers and held out her other for Dave. "Gentlemen, would you do me the honor?"

"Love to!" Dave said, taking her other arm. Together they walked into the building.

"Hey, I want her back, when we get inside," Finn said, trotting along behind them.

"Hell to the no! If Berry thinks she's gonna show me up, she's got another think coming," Mercedes said. "I'm as much a diva as her, so I should get a double escort too." She moved between Kurt and Blaine.

"Anytime my lady," Blaine said, bowing to her and taking her arm.

Kurt took the other one then said, "I get him back after the escort though."

"I'd never dream of coming between you!" She looked from one to the other, "Except for like this of course."

"As if you could," Puck said, following them with Lauren on his arm.

Once they were all in the lobby they all starting milling around. Dan started looking for Derrick, but couldn't find him.

"Anybody see Derrick anywhere?" Dan asked.

"Nope, sorry, Mr. D," Finn said.

"Maybe he got a better offer?" Mercedes said with a shrug.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Dan said. He took out his cell and began dialing.

A nearby plant started ringing.

"Yeah ... I'ma go with better offer," Puck said, his eyes wide as he looked at the plant.

Dan turned around following his gaze. Behind the plant were two men, one had the other pressed up against the wall as they shared a passionate kiss. The one against the wall opened a blue eye as the other haphazardly searched his pockets for his ringing cell.

The cell finally located, they broke the kiss. The one facing the wall held up his phone to look at the ID, but the one against the wall grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to face the Dan.

Derrick licked his lips then bit the lower one. "Um, hi," he said blushing.

"Hi, yourself," Dan said, grinning as he turned off his phone. The kids behind him were all grinning madly, most trying not to laugh, some more successfully than others.

"I ... uh," was all Derrick could manage. His 'friend' looked from Dan to the back of Derrick's head.

"Are you maybe going to introduce us?" Dan asked.

"Uh..." Derrick said, nodding.

His friend elbowed him, arching an eyebrow as he stared at him.

Dan was trying his best to stifle the laugh that was begging to surface. "Could you guys excuse us?" Dan said to the students. They all nodded and walked off grinning and whispering.

"You're useless, Ricky!" the stranger said, rolling his blue eyes and shoving Derrick aside. "Hi, I'm Bryce," he said offering his hand. "You must be Dan."

Dan took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you Bryce."

"Are you okay?" Bryce asked leaning over to Derrick. Derrick moved his head, but you couldn't really tell if it was a shake or a nod, it was somewhere in between.

"Okay, if he's speechless then we're all in trouble," Dan said, shaking his head as he looked at his brother. He turned back to Bryce. "I'm sort of guessing I should ask you if you had a good flight?"

Derrick's head snapped up and he stared at Dan.

"Je suis désolé, Bro, mais, je parler un peu français," Dan said. "I take it you're his little cabbage, or do you prefer Brussels sprout?"

Bryce burst out laughing as Derrick hung his head. "He prefers boyfriend," Derrick finally managed. "Sorry."

"I think cute when flustered runs in the family," Bryce said.

"So you've been talking about me?" Dan said.

"A little," Bryce said, stepping around Derrick and hooking Dan's arm and walking away with him.

"Hey wait up!" Derrick said, chasing after them.

"So, how long have you two been going out?" Dan asked.

Bryce thought about it a moment and said, "A little over a year now, I think. Maybe a little longer."

"Really?" Dan looked over his shoulder to Derrick and arched an eyebrow.

They met Schuester. "Hey, you found him. Did you get the tickets?"

"Oh, I've got them," Bryce said. "I picked them up as soon as I got here."

Schuester gave him a look as Beiste and Pillsbury joined them. "Guys this is Bryce," Dan said. "Derrick's boyfriend." They all gave him a nice to meet you as Dan went around introducing them.

"They're divided, there are six in upper level, but the rest are on the floor as close as I could get them to the front with handicapable room," Bryce said smiling at them.

"Well the boys and I got to hang with celebs last night, so I can take a balcony seat and let you guys sit up front," Dan said.

"Uh, actually there are six seats and Bryce has all ready seen the show so I can sit up there with him and the guys and you can go ahead and sit down front," Derrick finally managed.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were the one jetlagged," Bryce said laughing.

"I'm fine," Derrick said. "Sorry."

"Well lets round up the kids and get them in there," Schuester said.

Bryce helped them divide up the tickets and showed them which doors to use to get to their seats. Once the others went into the main floor he and Derrick led the others upstairs. The boys filed into their row and started to sit down.

"Uh, go one more, Kurt, right?" Bryce said. Kurt nodded. "There should be one seat left on the end when we're all in."

They all counted their seats and went to sit again. Bryce looked at the seat numbers and said, "Oh, hey Dave, why don't you sit by me so we can talk during intermission."

Dave shrugged and traded seats with Sam so that he was sitting by Bryce with Derrick on the end.

The rest of the group on the floor level waved up to the guys on in the balcony and they waved back.

The show started and they were floored by the special effects. Not only were the actors moving, but the stage was alive as well. It looked just like a living scene from a comic book. The buildings moved and came alive with color and video. At one point Spiderman and the Goblin even flew off the stage and over the crowd. At another, he came clear across the crowd.

The group below followed him as he soared above their heads, and then ... landed.

Up in the balcony Sam froze and his eyes grew wide as the web-slinger landed on the rail directly in front of him. Spidey gave him a thumbs up as he tossed something into Bryce's lap.

Bryce jolted dropping something and gave him a strange stare before reaching down to retrieve it.

"Oh my God!" Finn gasped. "Spidey just landed on Sam!" he said laughing.

"That little sneak!" Dan said quietly to Beiste as they both started laughing.

Dave laughed and ruffled Sam hair as Spidey jumped back toward the stage and the other boys joined the laughter.

* * *

><p>After the show ended the boys from the balcony made their way down to the floor.<p>

"Did you see that?" Blaine exclaimed.

"He almost landed in your lap dude!" Puck said to Sam.

"I just wish I had had a camera to get the expression on his face!" Dave said.

"Hey guys, why don't we go out this way," Bryce said. Dan noted that he was now wearing glasses that were tinted a pale yellow color that made his blue eyes take on a green hue that matched his shirt and tie. "It's gonna be crowded out front and this way goes past the restrooms."

"But we're going to need to meet the bus out front," Schuester said.

Dan gave Bryce and Derrick a skeptical stare and then arched his eyebrow. "Just go with it Will, they're up to something." Derrick gave him an innocent look.

Bryce jogged ahead. He appeared to be wrong, the side hallway was just as crowded if not even more so. He caught site of a redhead with a full beard and yelled, "Aiden!" The redhead looked around. "Aiden!" The redhead finally caught sight of him and waved. "Seen Zane?" Aiden threw him a thumbs up and a single finger telling him to give him a minute.

"I'm telling you we're going the wrong way," Rachel said. "There's no way this leads out, we're going deeper into the theater." She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Just go with it Rachel," Kurt said.

"But..." she began, but ran into a tall, thin young man with long dark hair, most of which was pulled back into a ponytail. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No problem," he said smiling at her.

"Wait ... you were up there," Rachel said, her eyes wide. "Guitars..."

"Um hmm," he said nodding. He looked up, and saw Bryce then Derrick. "B-man, Rick!" he said to them. "Haven't seen you two since Valentine's Day!"

"Zane," Bryce said bumping his fist. "What can I say, we got busy."

"Yeah like I don't know what that's like," Zane said. "Sorry I didn't get this to you before the show, too late for me to come out." He handed Bryce a large manila envelope.

"Not a problem," Bryce said. "Nice messenger service you have there by the way."

"Only thing we could think of," Zane said with a smirk. "There's a group in front of you, just give them a few to clear out. Now I need to go restring three guitars, to get ready for tonight's show."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Bryce said frowning.

"You know, now that I think about it, I'm labeling you bad luck. I hadn't broken any strings during a performance, not one..."

"Wait, you broke one the last time I saw the show."

"Yeah, that was my first one, and then this time I broke three. You're the common denominator," Zane said squinting at him.

"Sorry," Bryce said laughing through a frown. "I'd offer to help but I haven't seen Ricky for two weeks and we've got his brother's kids."

"Damn, that's harsh!" he said. "Well I hope your kids have fun and make sure you guys call me next time you're in the city so we can do lunch or something."

"You got it."

Zane excused himself and walked back through a door down the hall. As the crowd moved farther down the hall, Bryce saw someone and waved to them. He gave whoever it was an 'impressed' expression.

"We're trying to get out and he's arranging lunch," Rachel said to Kurt.

Kurt turned around to face her and while walking backwards said, "Come on Rachel, give him a break. He did get us the tickets."

Walking beside him Blaine looked up. His eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to say something, but didn't have time before Kurt ran into someone.

Kurt turned as he said, "Oh, I'm so sor...ry." His eyes grew wide as he traveled up the two young mens' frames. "You're... I'm sorry... I'm just going to wait ... over ... there."

"He's..." Rachel said. "And you're..."

"Come on Rachel," Kurt said. "And pick up your chin..." he whispered.

The tall thin young man grinned and waved at Bryce. He held up a finger saying just a minute; then held still for the person who was snapping their picture. He turned to his companion and said, "Hey you mind if we snap one with that guy for being so courteous?"

"No, fine by me," the other man said.

They waved Kurt over and the tall thin one put his arm around him as Kurt smiled. Bryce and Blaine both pulled out their cell phones and snapped pictures.

"Sorry, man, but I gotta jet. Great show, though!" He disappeared down the hall and out a side door.

Blaine turned and gave Derrick a probing look.

"What's wrong?" Derrick asked him.

"Okay, I don't care what Mr. D says," Blaine said. "You're right, you are cuter."

"Wait what?" Dan said walking up behind him.

"Show you later," Blaine said grinning.

Dan looked behind Blaine. "You didn't?" he asked his brother.

"Nope," Derrick said shaking his head, "Bryce did. He knows the guys in the band."

"You get the passes?" asked the tall young man as he ran his hand through his short spiky brown hair.

"Yep, Zane gave 'em to me," Bryce said. "That was dangerous by the way."

"Nah, it was small," he said winking. "Oh and next time you better bring your guitar. We let you off on Valentine's 'cause you said it was last minute."

"Well so was this!" Bryce said. "Hell, I just got back in the country last night; actually it was more this morning."

"Yeah, yeah! It's always an excuse with you isn't it." He broke into a smile. "Well what are you waiting for, get in here so we can all go to lunch!

"Thanks Reeve," Bryce said laughing. He followed him to the door and pulled a handful of badges from the large envelope. "Here you go guys," he said handing them to Kurt, Blaine, Rachel and Derrick.

"Well don't just stand there," Dan said, "follow Peter." They did as he said and followed Reeve into the room.

"What's going on?" Schuester asked finally catching up to them.

"Don't ask, just smile and nod," Dan said. "And remind me to never take my brother on another class trip ... or to always take him. Whichever, we just can't compete."

Bryce laughed as he handed Schuester three badges and nodded him Mike and Tina into the room.

They heard Schuester say, "What the..." as he entered the room.

"We're talking over lunch by the way, dinner at the latest," Dan said leaning against the wall beside Bryce.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Bryce said smiling at him. They waved the others into the room as they arrived. Santana walked in then leaned her head back out gaping. "Forget your playbill dear?" She looked up at him eyes wide. "Here you go," he said handing her one from the envelope. She turned and walked back in.

"Santana, speechless," Dan said. "Now that's a first." He shrugged. Bryce just smiled again. "You know, he must really like you," Dan said looking sideways at him.

"Why?" Bryce asked.

"You're the first one who's ever had him speechless," Dan said smiling.

"Okay, so that was a good thing?"

"Yeah, I think so," Dan said nodding. "He's never had a problem introducing anyone else to any of us, and ... whose idea was Ricky?"

"What?" Bryce asked as he handed Puck and Lauren their passes.

"You called him Ricky earlier."

"Oh, he told me to call him that a few months ago," Bryce said. "I thought it was cute, why?"

"Welcome to the family, bro," Dan said as he smiled and winked at him. Bryce's smile broadened.

From in the room they heard Lauren say, "Holy..."

And Puck finished with, "Shit!"

Dan bowed his head and laughed.

"What the hell was that about?" Beiste asked as she brought up the rear pushing Artie.

Bryce and Dan handed them their passes and ushered them in.

"Well I'll be a..." she said as she entered the room.

"Yes ma'am you will," Dan said closing the door behind them.

* * *

><p><strong>End note: <strong>

Okay, who am I kidding, I'm gonna be mean. I hope you got it all. If you didn't ask me and I'll be more than happy to tell you or at least show you the picture. evil grin


	20. 20  Rose Colored Glasses

**Author's Note:**

Okay, yes I know I'm taking a good bit of literary license with this chapter, but hey, I stayed _fairly_ grounded in actual fact and pseudo-canon for 19 chapters so I think I'm allowed.

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**20 - Rose Colored Glasses**

* * *

><p>After the meet and greet and a restroom break, the adults gathered outside the side door of the theatre to discuss where to go for lunch while the kids milled around comparing their 'trophies'.<p>

"Well Ms Mabel's place is about a block and a half..." Derrick looked around trying to get his bearings; he chose a direction and pointed, "that way."

Bryce pointed another direction causing Dan to smile.

"Are you sure?" Derrick asked.

Bryce nodded. "Front of the theatre is that way, and I walked over there with the guys the last time I saw the show ... once we managed to extricate Reeve from the stage door that is."

"You saw Mabel without me?" Bryce said with a pout. "No wonder she thought Danny was my new boyfriend."

Bryce stuck his tongue out at him.

The teachers laughed at the exchange. Then Dan said, "Will they be okay with such a big crowd hitting them?"

"Oh, yeah, they'll love it," Derrick said, Bryce nodding beside him. "Though Mabel may make them sing for their lunch." Bryce nodded again, smiling.

Dan shrugged and looked at his fellow teachers, "Well the food was great and they weren't that expensive. What do you guys think?"

"I'm up for it," Schuester said. "Ladies?"

"A walk might be a good idea so they can burn off some of that hyper energy from the surprise meet and greet," Beiste said laughing.

Pillsbury nodded her agreement. "Sounds great to me as long as it's close, I'm starving."

"You guys round 'em up, and I'll call the bus company and tell them we'll call them when we're done for the pickup," Schuester said.

* * *

><p>"Vancey boy, twice in as many days!" Mabel exclaimed when she saw him. "And there's my Brycey! Ya'll scared me showin' up on your own like that. Oh, you brought me some more young folks. Bless your hearts."<p>

"You got enough seats for us, Ms Mabel?" Bryce asked her.

"Oh sure, sure," she said smiling. "Always got room, I'll stick y'all in the back room."

The bell on the door chimed behind them.

"Are you following us?"

They all turned to find Zane and the redhead, Aiden, from the theatre.

"Well, since we got here first, I'd say you're following us," Bryce said. They laughed.

"Carney and Moore, the trouble makin' duo," Mabel said. "Let me just get these young folks seated and I'll get y'all's box so there's plenty of time to eat before your next show."

"Now don't you forget my pie this time," Aiden said.

"Now you know that was the new girl," Mabel said placing her hand on her hip.

"Yes ma'am," he said grinning at her.

"Don't worry hon'," she said winking at him, "I already put you extra whipped cream in on yours this time."

"Later guys," they all said as Mabel led their group into the back room.

"Told you everybody hung out here," Derrick said as they reached the table.

* * *

><p>"So how'd you two meet?" Dan asked. He had managed to sit sort of in between two tables so that he was with both the teachers and Derrick, Bryce and the boys.<p>

"We met on a beach shoot a little over a year ago," Bryce said. "Damn, more like a year and a half now that I think about it..."

"Oh, yeah," Dave said. "I knew I'd seen you before. It was the one on the beach, Derrick in red trunks and you in ... blue." Bryce nodded.

"And two hot blondes in teal and a kind of a magenta?" Dan said.

"Well, we didn't pay much attention to the blondes after we saw each other," Bryce said grinning.

"That has always been dad's problem with Derrick's job ... and his sexual preference," Dan said shaking his head.

Derrick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he'd love for me to bring more of my work home. I keep telling him that mom would kill him."

In a deep raspy voice both men said, "A man can dream, son!" Everyone laughed.

"Do you guys not work together anymore?" Dave asked. "I don't remember seeing anymore of you two together."

"Well ... no ... Derrick has a problem being ... professional ... when we work together, especially on art shoots," Bryce said with a smirk.

Dan burst out laughing. "Something comes up, huh?"

Derrick's drink sprayed through his nose and he began coughing and sputtering. Bryce politely passed him a handful of napkins. Derrick took the napkins, and glaring at both of them; he wiped himself and the table.

The teachers and boys looked at them confused.

"Art shoots are the ones where they wear the least amount of clothes," Dan explained.

They all began to giggle, but it grew to all out laughter the more they thought about it.

"So what do we want guys?" Derrick said trying to change the subject.

"Think I'll just have what I had last night," Sam said.

"You might want to have a look at the menu," Bryce said. "They have a lot more offerings during the day when they have more customers."

It suddenly dawned on Dan that Bryce had once again put on the yellow glasses which he'd worn earlier in the theatre. They'd come off outside, so they weren't sunglasses, but they must not be prescription either because they didn't really match either a distance or reading pattern of wear. He decided to file it away for later.

"Do they!" Dave said. "Here have a look, Sam."

Sam took the menu and scanned it. He kind of squinted, eventually reaching up to massage the bridge of his nose. He looked a little longer, and then leaned over to Dave. "Hey Dave? What kind of fish is beaded habbock?" he asked quietly.

"Huh, where?" Dave said.

Sam pointed, "The fish and chips."

"Oh, it's haddock, breaded in cornmeal," Dave said. "It's a whitefish. I'd say just think like Captain D's or Long John Silver's but with cornmeal instead of the smooth flour breading."

"Oh," Sam said blushing slightly. He scratched his head. "I still think I'm just gonna get the turkey BLT like I had last night." He frowned.

"You want the veggie soup you had last night again?" Dave said reaching over to rub his back.

"Was the broccoli one you had last night any good?"

"Yeah, it was great, I think I'm gonna get it again."

"I think I'll get that one, too." Sam said. "I think I need to hit the rest room."

"Okay, you wanted the BLT and the broccoli soup, right?" Dave asked.

"Yeah with the turkey," Sam said nodding as he pushed his chair under the table.

Bryce watched Sam as he left.

"Everything okay, babe?" Derrick asked recognizing his far off look.

"Yeah," Bryce said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

* * *

><p>They had a leisurely meal and sat and chatted for an hour or so. They were trying to decide what to do before the evening show that they had planned. They got around to pie and as the boys were finishing up Bryce took the placemat from under his plate and flipped it over and handed it to Sam.<p>

Taking a pen from his satchel he handed it to Sam. "Hey Sam, could you write down yours and they guys emails and addresses for me?"

"Couldn't I just text 'em to you?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Well, my phone's on the fritz," Bryce said. Derrick gave him a questioning look and started to open his mouth, but Bryce squeezed his knee under the table.

"It might be better if someone else wrote it for you," Sam said.

"Well they're finishing up their pie," Bryce told him. "It'll only take a second and if you're worried about your handwriting, I can read Derrick's and his is just this side of chicken scratch."

Derrick and Dan both gave him a strange look.

"Sure," Sam said. "I guess."

"Don't forget your phone numbers ... if they all don't mind." Bryce said and Sam nodded.

* * *

><p>When they were all done, Mabel came back with the check. "Y'all were in town for a music competition, right?"<p>

"Yes, ma'am," Schuester told her.

"We have a standing policy for first time customers," she said smiling. "Ten percent discount if you sing for your supper. Twenty if you impress Mel."

Schuester laughed. "What do you say guys?"

Everyone laughed and nodded. They huddled together and came up with a song.

"This is going to be hard without music or instruments or anything," Dave said. Mike nodded.

Blaine and Kurt looked at them and rolled their eyes.

"Well we can't all be Warblers!" Mike said. Tina patted him on the shoulder.

By far the most experienced with acapella performances, Blaine and Kurt started out setting up a rhythm for the others to fall into. Mike picked it up by snapping his fingers and tapping his feet, then Finn, Artie and Puck started beating the tables and chairs to make their own drum sets.

They sang in something akin to a round so that they all got a part, blending all of their voices by the end. When they finished everyone in the diner clapped for them.

"Well, Mel," Mabel said. "What do you say?"

The burly cook in the back beat the service bell with is spatula.

"Alright! Twenty percent it is!" Mabel exclaimed.

Schuester went up to pay the bill and added the discount back as a tip for Mabel.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so we're agreed that we're just going to head to central park and chill until time to head out to the show?" Schuester said as the kids boarded the bus.<p>

The teachers nodded in agreement.

"Great, I know the perfect place," Bryce said looking at his phone.

"Okay, just give the driver the address," Schuester said.

"I thought your phone was on the fritz," Dan said quietly to Bryce.

"Yeah, well it's working now," Bryce said smiling.

"What are you up to?" Dan said.

"Nothing," Bryce said innocently. They climbed on the bus and Bryce gave the driver the address.

"Why there?" Derrick said?

"No reason," Bryce said.

"There's nothing over there, no fountains ... well just that one little one," Derrick said, "nothing special."

Bryce shrugged, moving toward his seat. Dan grabbed his arm and pulled him across the aisle to sit with him instead of Derrick.

"Hey, he's mine!" Derrick said.

"Well I'm not keeping him," Dan said. "You can have him back when I'm done with him."

"Hey don't I get a choice?" Bryce said smiling.

"Maybe," Dan said shrugging.

"Well if you choose him, I get your album collection and your guitar," Derrick said.

"Why, you can't play?" Bryce and Dan both said.

"Reeve and Zane can," Derrick said.

"They're here in New York," Bryce said.

"They'll be home in LA eventually."

"And they're not interested."

"But they'll enjoy the gift," Derrick said sticking his tongue out.

Once they'd gotten under way, Dan leaned over to Bryce and quietly said, "Okay, what are you up to."

"N..." Bryce started.

"And don't say nothing," Dan said. "I lived with him for almost nineteen years, known him for all twenty-three. He's about as anal about his penmanship as you can get and I can generally read him like a book and he knows you're up to something too."

Bryce looked over his shoulder to make sure none of the kids were within earshot. "Okay, you're their teacher... Sam, is he dyslexic by chance?"

Dan looked surprised. "Actually he is. How did you know?"

"Takes one to know one," Bryce said smiling at him. "Do you have any idea how bad he is? Does he have an IEP or anything?"

"No, I haven't ever gotten anything about an IEP," Dan said, "I kind of wondered why he didn't have something in place. As for how bad... Talking to his English teacher, he's definitely struggling with her. She's trying, but he gets so frustrated with it. I was talking with his father a week or so ago and he said that Sam seems to be getting more and more depressed about it. He's almost to the point that he hates to read at all, because his younger brother can read much better than him now and it really seems to be getting to him. Hell, Will said he didn't really know how to tie his shoes properly until he showed him a trick this year. I thought that was odd because he's so damn bright."

"Did he use some kind of mnemonic?" Bryce asked.

"Yeah, a poem, I think."

"Like a song." Bryce nodded. "It's not a bright-dumb thing, it's a left-right thing," he said. "It took me forever to get the right hand over your heart thing down. He's on the football team, right, so his coordination must not be that bad and he sings which is great. How is he with numbers?"

"Not bad," Dan said. "He loves his math class from what I've heard from his teacher, and the math in my class seems like a breeze to him. I've had him start working with Dave and discussing his work rather than just trying to write it out himself."

"That's good for the most part," Bryce said, "but he may start using Dave as a crutch. I noticed that Dave sort of led him through ordering lunch. It's hard when you care deeply about the person, you start editing for them."

"I don't think I really thought about that," Dan said. "Dave needed some help getting back on track and Sam needed the boost to his self-esteem."

"If he has a hard time with writing stuff, you guys might want to try letting him type up his assignments," Bryce said. "It's a lot easier for your brain to find the key than to think of the letter, remember the shape and get it on the blank page. It takes the worry about the mechanics out of it and lets him concentrate on the content of the lesson."

"Good point," Dan said. He found himself shocked and quite frankly a little disappointed in himself. He was the first person to object to the fact that models were dumb. He knew exactly how brilliant his brother actually was once you got past the surface, but he was beginning to wonder if he hadn't given Bryce due courtesy.

"Does he ever complain about headaches?"

"Yeah, he gets some wicked migraines from what he's told me."

"I've got an idea I'd like to try when we get to the park."

"He's a great kid," Dan said. "Anything that will work for him I'm fairly sure he'd be game for."

"I doubt he has a favorite book," Bryce said frowning. "Does he have a favorite movie or something by chance?"

"Oh that's easy! Avatar, hands down."

"Perfect!"

* * *

><p>At the park, Bryce approached Sam. "Hey, Sam, got a sec?"<p>

"Sure, what's up?" Sam asked.

"Come sit with me?" Sam nodded at him and followed him over to sit on a bench well away from the others. "Could you do me a favor and read this?" He handed him his cell.

Sam looked at him. "I... I'd really rather not."

"It's okay, Sam," Bryce told him. "I know it's hard, I'm dyslexic too."

"How did you know?" Sam said frowning. "Am I that obvious?"

"Well you are to me, but that's just because I do the same things," Bryce said. "Here just give it a try. Just read what you see. Some of it's not going to make much sense, but that's the way it's supposed to be ... so you'll read it and can't guess."

Sam reluctantly took the phone and tried to read the words on the screen. He muddled through it with a great deal of difficulty.

"It's okay, some of them are meant to be really hard." Bryce took the phone back and flicked through a few pages, then handed it back to Sam. "Here try again."

Sam looked at him with a pained expression, but took the phone. He noticed that the screen was a different color. He tried to read it, but found that it gave him a headache. He rubbed his eyes.

"Headache?" Bryce said sympathetically.

"What are they doing over there?" Dave asked. "Sam looks like he's about to cry."

Dan gave him a compassionate smile. "It's okay, just a little experiment."

"You know Sam may get tired of being used as a guinea pig!" Dave said.

The others close to them turned to look at them from the harshness of Dave's tone. Dan reached over and took Dave's hand. "He'll be okay, Dave. It's just like an eye test."

"Bryce is a model, not a doctor," Dave said again with a heated tone.

Dan squeezed his hand. "I know that and so does Bryce. Look, Bryce is dyslexic just like Sam. He's just showing him a website that his doctor sent him to that helps you check to see how bad your dyslexia is."

"Ohh," Derrick said. "You can give me idiot points. That didn't even occur to me. Bryce did cry when he did it... Don't tell him I said that."

Across the lane they saw Bryce reach over and wrap his arm around Sam's shoulders and give him a hug. They got up and Sam walked toward them as Bryce headed for the park exit.

"You okay?" Dave asked as Sam reached them.

"Yeah, just got a little headache," Sam said giving him a weak smile.

* * *

><p>"You okay?" Derrick said into his phone. "You've been gone an awfully long time."<p>

"Sorry, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I had to get someone to go check on it for me," Bryce said. "I'm on my way back now. Actually I can see you."

Derrick turned toward the park entrance and smiled and waved.

When he finally made it over to them he was carrying several shopping bags. "Uh, I went ahead and took care of that other thing you wanted to do while I was waiting," he said patting his satchel.

"Which one did you get?" Derrick asked.

"Basic black," Bryce said smiling. "It seemed the better fit."

Derrick nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Hey, Sam," Bryce said, walking to join him at the Bench where he and Dave were sitting. "Here, try these out."

Sam took the small bag from him. Looking inside he found a small case. He opened it and found a pair of glasses with pale blue lenses. He looked at Bryce with questioning eyes. "My vision is twenty-twenty," he said

Bryce tapped his own yellow tinted glasses. "Go ahead, try 'em on."

Sam shrugged and slid them on. "Well how do they look?"

"Actually you look pretty cool," Dave said.

"They match your hair and even your shirt," Kurt said.

"They're not really supposed to be a fashion statement," Bryce said laughing. "Here, try this." He handed Sam his phone again.

Sam groaned. "That's the one that gave me that wicked headache."

Bryce smiled. "Just try it."

Sam reluctantly stared at the screen. He arched his eyebrow as he started sliding the screen upward. Pausing, he looked at Bryce, a stunned look on his face. He went back to the screen.

"How's your head?" Bryce asked.

"Fine," Sam said sounding surprised.

"Here, try this," Bryce said handing him another bag.

Sam opened the bag and reached inside. He pulled out a hard cover book and flipped it over to look at the title. "Avatar! I ... wow! This just came out didn't it?"

"Yeah, I got the first one out of their last box. I figured since you liked the movie you'd like the novel," Bryce said smiling. "There's also a card in there so you can download the digital copy on MP3 so you can practice reading it. Na'vi sounds so much better than it looks."

"I don't know what to say," Sam said.

"Just thanks for now," Bryce said, "and then let me know how it goes. It took me a while to get used to the glasses, so it may take you a while, but it's well worth it."

"I don't..." Sam reached over and hugged him. "Thanks! You know, it was working just reading from your phone. The last time you had me read that it gave me such a headache with that font. It was like the letters were jumping all over the page, but with the color everything stayed put."

"I know," Bryce said, "it's the most freakish thing ever isn't it?"

"It was really that quick?" Schuester asked.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"I probably don't have the wavelength perfect, so it's not the exact color that you really need, but it's as close as I could find to what the website suggested," Bryce said. "You know if I remember correctly from what I've read; the blue filter stimulates an area of the brain that helps with headaches and regulating your sleep patterns, too."

"Fewer migraines would be nice," Sam said.

"Just a tip from someone that's been there," Bryce said. "Play with when to leave them on and when to take them off. If you're going to be reading a lot leave them on, but when you're trying to see colors, definitely take them off." He laughed, and then taped his glasses. "These are great for reading and driving because the yellow color cuts the glare, like those 'HD lenses' they're always advertizing, but when I take them off everything looks a little bluer or greener for a while. Rick and I have had arguments about what color things are."

They all laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>End note:<strong>

Yes, the Avatar book has not even been written yet, but it just seemed to fit the story the best. Oh and by the way ... just like Dan and Bryce I'm not a doctor either, and I'm not even dyslexic, this was just a plot point based on the simplest of research. If you actually have dyslexia see someone who specializes in it and see if there's anything they can do to help you out.

I'd love to hear your feedback ... of any kind, so leave a review or private message me!


	21. 21  Brothers

**Author's Note**:

This chapter and the next were initially inspired by a picture. Here's a link to it:

ht tp:/www .mobypicture. com/user/chordoverstreet/view/9454865  
>You'll have to remove the three spaces.<p>

Okay, enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**21 - Brothers**

* * *

><p>Bryce opened the door to his studio apartment and led Derrick in, the two placing their bags on the table near the door.<p>

"Well, we've got a few hours to kill before Danny and the kids get out of their second show," Derrick said.

"That we do," Bryce said. "So what are you up for?"

"Up for?" Derrick said smirking. "Funny you should put it that way. We haven't seen each other for two weeks..."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Bryce said, "but you do have a point."

Derrick walked over and wrapped his arms around him. "Damn straight. Now ... where were me before my brother so rudely interrupted us?" He leaned in and kissed him.

"I think that's about it," Bryce said smiling.

Their kisses became more passionate as Derrick began moving them toward the bed. "God I missed you," he said as he pulled Bryce's shirt from his pants, then slipped his hands beneath running his hands across his back.

Bryce pushed Derrick back and began removing his shirt as Derrick did the same to him. Once the shirts were off, both their smooth muscular chests heaving, they started on their pants. When Bryce's legs touched the bed, Derrick gave him a gentle shove sending him onto the bed.

Bryce smiled as he sat up then took Derrick's cock in his mouth. Derrick's eyes rolled back as he ran his hands through Bryce's short brown hair.

"I want you inside me now," Bryce eventually said.

"Wasn't it my turn this time?" Derrick said, smiling down at him.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you invited your brother," Bryce said, grinning and taking Derrick's arm and pulling onto the bed. He reached for the night stand and pulled out a condom and lube.

"In a hurry?"

Bryce's only answer was a stare, his blue eyes burning with lust and need. He tore open the condom and rolled it onto Derrick's cock and squeezed on some lube. Straddling Derrick he lined up and slowly lowered himself, groaning as he stretched.

Derrick gasped as he was enveloped. Bryce paused to adjust then leaned down to kiss Derrick and slowly began sliding on him. Derrick sat up wrapping his arms around him tracing down his sides and guiding him as he set his rhythm.

"I missed you so much, Ricky," Bryce whispered in his ear.

"I missed you too; we can't do this anymore," Derrick said between kisses.

"Take me, please." Bryce rose off of him, groaning as he felt Derrick's cock slide free. "I hate that part," he groaned.

Derrick pushed him back and moved around. He pulled Bryce's ankles onto his shoulders, running his hands down his perfectly toned legs then lined up and pushed in.

"Yes!" Bryce gasped as Derrick plunged in.

Derrick built his rhythm, harder and faster, after a year together he knew exactly what Bryce liked. Bryce cried out as Derrick managed to hit his prostate. Derrick reached and fisted Bryce's cock and began pumping in time to his strokes.

"Oh, yes," Bryce screamed. He panted and moaned, spurring Derrick along.

"Come on baby, that's it," Derrick said.

Bryce screamed again as he came; thick ropes of cum splattering across his molded pecs and ripped abs as his muscles spasmed around Derrick's cock. Derrick held still as Bryce tried to regain his composure.

Bryce brought his feet down slowly, and Derrick slowly slid free. "I do hate that," Bryce moaned as he sat up. He reached up and grabbed Derrick and pulled him onto him kissing him passionately. Reaching down he removed and discarded the condom, then rolled him onto his back and kissed his way down to Derrick's cock.

Derrick gasped as Bryce slurped him in, bobbing and licking. Bryce pushed his legs apart, stroking his inner thighs and massaging his balls. Derrick laced his fingers in Bryce's hair and began to fuck his face, as Bryce tried to relax and let Derrick establish his rhythm.

Soon Derrick felt his orgasm coming. He release Bryce's hair and tore at the bed sheets. "Oh, yes!" he screamed as he came. Bryce kept sucking gently until Derrick reached for him and pulled him up across his eight-pack abs and broad chest. The two lay in each other's arms spent and panting.

After a few minutes, Bryce rolled over and kissed Derrick. "We've got to have welcome home sex more often."

"As long as we can do it without you having to go anywhere," Derrick said running his hand through Bryce's hair.

"Come on, let's go hop in the shower," Bryce said.

"Not right now," Derrick said. "I want a few more minutes like this."

Bryce obliged and lay back down as Derrick placed his head on his chest. "You're gonna get goo in your hair," Bryce said with a chuckle, running his hand through Derrick's dark blonde locks.

"Don't care," Derrick said. "We're showering in a few anyway." He traced his fingers across Bryce's firm abs.

They lay like that for several minutes, Bryce tracing lazy patterns across Derricks back and arm. He eventually took his fingers and angled Derrick's jaw so that he could kiss him. After the kiss he said, "You alright?"

"Yeah," Derrick said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Bryce said smiling at him. "Are you sure you're okay, you're awfully quiet."

"Yeah, I'm good," Derrick said. "How about that shower now?"

Derrick sat up and then helped Bryce up. They walked to the bathroom and Derrick turned on the shower as Bryce grabbed towels from the linen closet. Once he had the water adjusted Derrick took Bryce by the hand and pulled him in.

They lathered one another and massaged it in, both cleaning and working out tension. Once they had rinsed off, Derrick reached for Bryce's cock. Kissing him, Derrick massaged him until he was hard. Derrick broke the kiss then whispered into Bryce's ear, "Take me baby, please." The words were full of want and need. He then turned around, pressing his hands to the tile.

"Hold on, I'll get a..." Bryce said, starting to turn.

Derrick reached around behind and took hold of Bryce again. "Now, please."

"But we said..."

Derrick gently tugged on his cock once more and pressed his hips back into him.

Bryce slowly reached over and grabbed the lotion and began working it into Derrick's sphincter, first with one finger then adding a second and then a third. Once he felt he had done enough preparation he placed some lotion to his own cock and lined up.

Derrick moaned as Bryce's head touched his hole. As Bryce started to push forward Derrick pressed backwards, impaling himself. They both moaned and Bryce stood still waiting for Derrick to make the first move. Derrick slid forward and back and set up a rhythm that Bryce quickly matched.

Derrick leaned back allowing Bryce to run his hands across his chest and abs. Bryce kissed his neck and shoulders and then bit playfully at them eliciting moans and grunts from Derrick. Soon he reached down and grasped Derrick's cock and began tugging in time with his thrusts.

Bryce slowed his thrusts as he whispered, "Tell me when you're ready baby."

A few more thrusts and, "Now, baby. Oh God now, please!"

Bryce picked up his pace, pounding into him as he jerked at his cock. A few seconds later and they both screamed as their orgasms overtook them. They both collapsed forward onto the tile wall as Bryce kissed Derrick's shoulder and then his cheek.

As Bryce softened he eventually pulled himself free, both of them groaning at the feeling. Derrick turned in Bryce's arms and kissed him.

* * *

><p>Sometime later, Bryce and Derrick sat on the sofa; they were both dressed again save for buttoning their shirts. Both men had their feet up on the coffee table; Bryce with his laptop in his lap checking his email as Derrick sat with his arm around him reading.<p>

As Bryce finished with his mail, he shut down the computer and sat it on the coffee table. "Can we talk now?" Bryce asked turning to look at him.

"Yeah, of course," Derrick said, moving his bookmark and placing his book on the table.

"You weren't embarrassed introducing me to Danny were you?"

"No, of course not!"

"I just ... I've never seen you speechless. Ever."

"I ... I just..." Derrick sighed and stood up. "Just a minute." He walked over to his bag and rummaged through it for a minute or two. Once he'd found what he was looking for, he stopped to examine it for a moment and then walked back over to Bryce. "It's easy to be a bitch when you don't really care how someone feels."

Bryce nodded, eyeing him cautiously.

"It's different when you really care what they think," Derrick said. "It's hard to find the right words when nothing seems accurate."

"Danny said it was a good thing that you were speechless," Bryce said shrugging.

"He knows me pretty well," Derrick said smiling. "That's part of why I wanted you to meet him first."

"He also asked me whose idea it was for me to call you Ricky."

Derrick smiled again. "That was his nickname for me. He was the only one who ever called me that. What did he say when you told him?"

"Welcome to the family," Bryce said, smiling up at him.

Derrick's smile broadened.

"Ricky..." Bryce started then paused to choose his words carefully. "Earlier, in the shower ... we'd always said we were gonna use ... until we were ready... Are you..."

"I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming," Derrick said, as he lowered himself to a knee. "It's hard for me to find the right words sometimes; boyfriend just doesn't seem to fit anymore. I think maybe soul mate is better..."

Bryce's eyes grew wide and his eyebrow arched. "Ricky?"

Derrick produced a small box from his pocket and opened it revealing a silver ring with a Celtic knot design.

"Ricky ... do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes..." Derrick said smiling and nodding. He waited for Bryce to say something, but he just sat there. "You're gonna make me say it aren't you?"

"To make sure I'm not dreaming ... yeah," Bryce nodded.

Derrick took a deep breath. "Bryce Forbes ... would you do me the honor of becoming a member of my family, and allow me the honor of become a member of your clan? So long as your Gran-Da says aye course."

Bryce smiled from ear to ear as he laughed. "Yes ... as long as Gran-Da sae's aye." He leaned over and kissed Derrick then held out his finger for Derrick to place the ring on it.

"This is just the promise one," Derrick said. "I figured we should actually choose ones for the ceremony together."

"It's beautiful, where did you find it?" Bryce asked spinning the ring on his finger to look at all sides.

"I had it special ordered from a shop in Edinburgh," Derrick said as he stood.

"The one my mum, told you about?" Bryce asked. Derrick nodded and Bryce leaned over and kissed him again once he'd rejoined him on the sofa.

"Uh, do you think your Gran-Da will have a problem with us getting married?"

"He won't, you know he loves you," Bryce said. "The higher ups in the clan, I don't know. I've never really heard of a same sex union before, but who cares. As long as my part family adopts you, no one else can say anything. What about your parents, though, they haven't even met me?"

"They'll love you," Derrick said. "They're the 'as long as you're happy, I'm happy' types."

"So it was Danny's approval I needed?" Bryce said with a wrinkled brow.

"No, not his approval so much as his opinion," Derrick said. "I've had a couple of ... not so right, Mr. Rights in my time ... and Danny has seen right through them ... and me. It's like he knows me so well that he knows whether it's right or not, besides a second opinion never hurts."

"So you think he'll be okay with it?"

"Was he smiling when he said 'welcome to the family'?"

"Yeah," Bryce said laughing.

"Then he meant it," Derrick said kissing him again.

"So are you going to tell him?" Bryce asked.

"Actually, I think I'll be nice," Derrick said. "I'm not going to tell him."

Bryce frowned. "And how is that being nice?"

"Well, if he sees the ring and asks, I'll tell him, but if he doesn't ask I won't tell."

"And again, how is that being nice?"

"Well I'm not going to let him tell Mom and Dad until we get up there to meet them..."

"Ohhh..." Bryce laughed.

"Come on, we'd better head over to the hotel," Derrick said. "They'll be getting done soon."

* * *

><p>Dan and the boys walked down the hall toward the hotel room door.<p>

"Well, it was good, but I don't think anything could top Spidey landing on the rail in front of me," Sam said laughing as Dan reached for the room key.

"You're never gonna forget that one are you?" Blaine said laughing.

"Nope," Sam said. "Hey I wonder if that was Reeve or one of the other actors."

"I don't know," Dave said, "it's got to be pretty hard to sing while being pulled around on the wires like that."

"Well it was definitely him in that number where he was bouncing between the ceiling and walls," Blaine said.

Kurt shrugged. "Maybe you can ask Bryce and see if he knows."

Dan was grinning as he listened to their conversation. Entering the room, he spied Derrick on the sofa watching TV, his feet up on the table. Bryce lay with his head in Derrick's lap and his feet propped on the arm of the sofa. "Shh, guys," Dan said seeing that Bryce was asleep. "Jetlag finally catch up to him?" he asked quietly as he deposited the keycard in its familiar place.

Derrick nodded, as he ran his finger across Bryce's forehead gently moving his hair to the side.

"Are you okay baby?" Kurt asked Blaine who was rubbing at his eye.

"Yeah, my contact's just bugging the hell out of me," Blaine told him.

"Well take them out," Kurt said. "You have your glasses with you don't you?"

"Yeah, I just don't have any lens solution," Blaine said. "It spilled in my suitcase during all that shaking."

"I have some in my bag," Bryce said, his eyes still closed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Blaine said.

"It's okay," Bryce said. "If I don't stay up, I'll never get my hours straight. Someone was supposed to keep me awake." He looked up at Derrick.

"I can't help it you looked so peaceful," Derrick said smiling down at him.

Bryce sat up with a yawn and reached into his bag grabbing two bottles. "Here are some drops too," he said. "It's really good stuff, we both use it."

"Thanks," Blaine said. He grabbed his contacts case from his bag then went into the bathroom to take them out.

Bryce slid over and allowed Sam to sit beside him and Dave sat on the arm of the sofa beside him.

When Blaine returned he offered the bottles back to Bryce. Blaine noted the ring on his finger when he took the bottles. Once he crossed to sit on the arm of the chair that Kurt was in, he bent down to whisper to Kurt. "Hey, was he wearing that earlier?"

"Hmm, what?" Kurt said.

"The ring on Bryce's finger, was he wearing that earlier?" Blaine whispered.

"Which one?" Kurt said curiously. Blaine inconspicuously held out his left hand and indicated his ring finger with his thumb. Kurt arched an eyebrow and took a closer look. His eyes grew wide as he saw what Blaine was talking about. "Oh my Gaga!" Kurt said under his breath.

"Shh!" Blaine said. "If they haven't said anything then..."

"You two okay?" Dan said.

"Yes!" Kurt said his voice a little higher than normal.

Blaine gently and surreptitiously smacked Kurt in the back of the head before sliding off of the arm of the chair and into his lap gaining an, "Oomph," from him. "Yeah, we're just waiting for dinner. We're both starving, aren't we?" Blaine said, Kurt adding a nod.

Dave and Sam both looked at them curiously.

"Well, you've got about fifteen minutes to wait," Dan said. "Anyone else need to go to the restroom or change or anything?"

They all answered in the negative.

A cell on the table rang. "It's you," Derrick said as he reached and grabbed it. "Mum," Derrick said raising his eyebrows as he handed it to Bryce.

Bryce gave Derrick a funny look. "Forgot to call her back today..."

"Ooo, then somebody's in trouble," Derrick said.

"Like you remember to call Mom when you get home?" Dan said eyeing him as Bryce stood up and walked toward the sleeping area.

"Awrite Mum!" Bryce said smiling. "Yeah, aam back. Sorry Ah didne caa sooner, Rick an' Ah hae bin thrang," he said frowning as he paced back and forth in the doorway of the room where the beds were. "Yeah, 'is brither's in toon wi' 'is kids frae 'is skale. ... Ur ye fishin' by chance?" He grinned. "Och aye, he gae it tae me. ... Aye'e got it frae th' shop ye tauld heem abit in Auld Reekie. ... Aye it was. ... Aye ... he did."

He laughed as he held the phone from his ear and the others heard a squeal through the ear piece. They all looked at one another then over at Derrick who was also smiling, but just shrugged innocently.

"Easy tha's mah lug thaur!" Bryce said laughing. "Aye, but we're still wi' 'is brither an' we huvnae tauld heem yit. ... Okay, I'll caa ye tha' moorns nicht an' teel ye th' details, weel most ay 'em. ... Loove tae ye an' Da! ... Oh, ye main want tae teel Gran-Da, tay. ... Tha' moorns nicht! Loove ye!"

Bryce flicked off the phone and turned to the rest of those in the room to find them all staring at him.

"Well, it wasn't Na'vi," Sam said wide eyed.

"Wasn't French either," Dan said, with a chuckle.

"It's nothing I've heard in Mr. Schue's Spanish class either," Dave said.

"It was English," Bryce said laughing as he crossed the room.

"Well, I caught a few English words," Kurt said.

"Welcome to my world!" Derrick said laughing. "Imagine a room full of them!"

"Stop it yew!" Bryce said smacking Derrick's shoulder as he perched on the arm of the sofa beside Derrick. "It's English. My family's originally from the lowlands of Scotland and when we get together ... it just kind of comes out like that." He laughed.

"Should have seen me the first time I woke up in bed with him talking to his Da on the phone," Derrick said, crossing his eyes and cocking his head to the side.

The boys burst out laughing.

"We're you drinking the night before?" Dan asked laughing.

"No, that was the problem!" Derrick said. "He freaked the fuck out of me!"

Dan looked at his watch and said, "Well I guess we should go ahead and head downstairs. I've seen these guys hungry and it's not pretty."

They laughed as the all headed for the door.

Dan snagged Bryce and Derrick's sleeves and held them back. "Drinks after dinner?"

"Sure," Bryce said as Derrick nodded.

* * *

><p>After dinner Bryce, Derrick, Dan and Beiste sat at a table in the hotel bar. They ordered and made small talk as they waited for their drinks. After the server arrived with their orders, Derrick's phone rang.<p>

"It's Dave," he said looking at the caller ID with a wrinkled brow. "What's up Dave?" he said. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry to bother you guys," Dave said. "Could I speak to Mr. D really quick?"

"Sure, hold on a sec... He wants to talk to you," Derrick said offering the phone to his brother.

"What's going on Dave?" Dan asked.

"Nothing," Dave said. "We just ... well Sam and Kurt are passed out on the bed and Blaine and I didn't want to risk waking them. We were wondering if it would be okay if we went down to the hotel's sauna for a while."

"Both of you?" Dan asked.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, okay," Dan said. "Just stay together, and don't stay in there too long."

"Yeah, I know," Dave said. "Coach went over that with us with the one at school."

"Forgot we had one honestly," Dan said with a chuckle, "though that was a much better alumni gift than that damn Slushee machine ever was."

"Call me when you get back to the room if we're not back there by the time you get done so I know you're back safe," Dan said. "And don't forget to leave Sam and Kurt a note so you don't freak them out."

"Good idea," Dave said laughing.

"Thanks for calling first," Dan said. "Have fun."

"Thanks," Dave said then hung up.

Beiste gave him a curious look as he hung up the phone.

"Sam and Kurt are zonked out so Dave and Blaine want to hit the sauna for a few," he told her.

"Yeah," Beiste said. "He loves the one at the school; I had to run him out a few times."

"Okay, Bro, is there something that you want to say?" Dan said as he handed the phone back to Derrick.

Derrick shrugged innocently as he put it away. "You invited us, remember?"

"Okay, then I'll start," Dan said rolling his eyes. He looked over at Beiste, then back at Derrick. "Shannon and I have been going out for a couple of months now, nothing too serious, just drinks and dancing mostly."

"Well there was a dinner or two and a couple of concerts," Beiste said.

Dan grinned and nodded. "Now ... you want to tell me if that ring is some symbol in gay culture that I'm not familiar with ... or did I just gain another brother?"

Bryce laughed as he looked at Derrick, while Derrick just sort of looked lost. "Come on Rick, I've got a whole clan to break the news to, you've got three people, four if you count Shannon."

Derrick rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's what you think it is."

Dan smiled. "Now was that so hard?"

"No..." Derrick said. "It's just the tongue tied thing; you know how I get..."

"I know," Dan said. "I had a sneaking suspicion it was pretty serious when we found you behind the plant at the theatre or I'd have let the kids stay to rag on you."

"You're evil," Derrick said.

"I know," Dan told him smiling. He turned to Bryce. "So, now that it's just us grownups how about some more about you, other than the fact that my brother is head over heels for you, you're a model and you're Scottish?"

"I'm a Scot," Bryce said smiling. "Scotch is a drink and Scottish is trying but not quite succeeding ... or so says me Gran-Da."

"I stand corrected," Dan said laughing.

"I come from a huge Scots clan that Rick'll soon be joining."

"They're great," Derrick said. "His Mum, Da and Gran-Da came for Thanksgiving last year."

"He fit right in ... once he learned to translate," Bryce said laughing. "Their accents are still pretty thick, especially Gran-Da."

"I heard yours earlier," Dan said, "it's kind of wicked the way you turn it on and off like that."

"Sorry, I was laying it on a wee li'l bit thicker than normal," Bryce said grinning. "Mum, guessed what the ring was for..."

"I got that much," Derrick said laughing.

"I was kind of wondering what the screaming was about," Dan said laughing.

"Well let's see, what else about me ... um, I was boorn in Scotland; a wee town called Westhill, 'tween the Dee an' the Don," Bryce said kicking in the Scots brogue. "Actually it was a hospital in nearby Aberdeen, but who's counting. We moved from there when I was about four to Champaign, Illinois, and we celebrated." They laughed.

"Derrick and I are the same age; we have a lot of the same tastes in music and food and such, except for kimchi."

"Hey, I gave you that I liked the cucumber kind," Derrick said, "just not the cabbage crap."

Bryce smiled at him. "Let's see, I play guitar - that's how I met the Carney boys in LA and was able to swing you guys the tickets today. I have a degree in IT engineering, I even had my own firm before I started modeling," Bryce said.

"Impressive," Beiste said.

"You know the IT firm is actually what got me into modeling," Bryce said. "I answered a call for one of the agencies needing some work done on their LAN servers and one of them spotted me and asked me if I'd pose for them."

"Sounds like you and Derrick both fell into it the same way," Dan said.

Bryce nodded.

"So you've already met his folks?" Dan said, turning to his brother. "You planning on telling Mom and Dad or just inviting them to the wedding?"

"I was thinking about going up to see them early next month," Derrick said. "I've got one more big shoot scheduled week after next, then Bryce and I are both open. When are you out of school?"

"About two weeks," Dan said, Beiste nodding in agreement. "So you want some moral support?"

"Yes, please!" Derrick said.

"You're so cute," Bryce said.

"I'm not cute, I'm terrified!" Bryce said.

"Why, it's just Mom and Dad?" Dan said.

"Yeah, but this isn't 'hey how's it going' or 'here's the new fling' this is 'here's the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life with' ... I just don't know how to do that!"

"You just did," Dan said smiling at him.

"I guess I just did." Derrick laughed. "But I could still use the moral support."

"You've got it Ricky," Dan said. "Always."

Derrick smiled at him.

"Just name the time and I'll be there," Dan said. He stood up and walked over to their side of the table. As they stood up he hugged them both. "I said it before jokingly, but I'll say it again with new meaning. Welcome to the family Bryce."

Bryce hugged him again.

* * *

><p><strong>End note:<strong>

Sorry again if I mangled this 'translation', the Scots brogue isn't exactly another language, more an interpretation of the phonetic way the accent is interpreted, but here's what Bryce actually said on the phone:

"Hello Mum!" Bryce said smiling. "Yeah, I'm back. Sorry I didn't call sooner, Rick and I have been busy," he said frowning as he paced back and forth in the doorway of the room where the beds were. "Yeah, his brother's in town with his kids from his school. ... Are you fishing by chance?" He grinned. "Yes, he gave it to me. ... Yes he got it from the shop you told him about in Edinburgh. ... Yes it was. ... Yes ... he did."

He laughed as he held the phone from his ear and the others heard a squeal through the ear piece. They all looked at one another then over at Derrick who was also smiling, but just shrugged innocently.

"Easy that's my ear there!" Bryce said laughing. "Yes, but we're still with his brother and we haven't told him yet. ... Okay, I'll call you tomorrow and tell you the details, well most of them. ... Love to you and Da! ... You may want to tell Gran-Da, too. ... Tomorrow! Love you!"


	22. 22  Blaine

**Author's Note**:

Here's the link to the inspiration picture again:

ht tp:/www .mobypicture. com/user/chordoverstreet/view/9454865  
>Again, you'll have to remove the three spaces.<p>

I can't say much else about this chapter, other than it was mostly all up to Blaine, so I'm skipping my usual preamble.

Here you go...

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

_"The following chapter deals with some mature topics, reader discretion is advised."_

**22 - Blaine**

* * *

><p>After a leisurely dinner, the boys returned to their room as the adults went to have their after dinner talk. They turned on the TV, but there wasn't really anything that they wanted to watch. Soon Kurt and Sam found their way to one of the beds and, after just a bit, the excitement of the day soon overtook them and they were sound asleep.<p>

Blaine and Dave looked in on them to find Sam with his hands behind his head, the sunglasses he'd been playing with still on, and Kurt passed out lying on Sam's arm.

Dave went to remove Sam's glasses, but Blaine stopped him. "Hold up, this is just too cute." He grabbed his cell and snapped a picture.

Dave laughed softly then went ahead and removed Sam's glasses and put them on the nightstand.

"So what do we do?" Dave asked quietly. "I'm not really tired yet, are you?"

Blaine shook his head and said, "No, not really."

Dave grabbed the hotel directory and scanned the services they offered. "Hey they have a sauna downstairs, you wanna go down?"

"A sauna, that's the dry heat, right?" Blaine said. Dave nodded. "I've never really tried one. What's it like?"

"Kind of like being baked," Dave said with a chuckle. "But it's relaxing."

"Sure why not," Blaine said. "We better call Mr. D and make sure it's okay. I'm still kind of feeling bad for ... I don't know ... I feel like we've taken advantage of him or something."

"What do you mean?" Dave said.

"I don't know, it feels kind of like were using his relationship with his brother to get one over on him," Blaine said. "I walked in on the two of them talking the other night. It was just so great to see them together, like best friends ... well what brothers are supposed to be I guess."

"They are cool together," Dave said. "They fight and rag on each other one minute and then they're reading each others' minds the next."

"I think they fight because they read each others' minds," Blaine laughed. "I wonder what it'll be like adding Bryce as another brother in the mix."

"What do you mean?" Dave asked.

"Before dinner Kurt and I noticed that Bryce was wearing a ring," Blaine said. "And it was on a certain finger."

"You mean they're getting engaged?" Dave said, almost raising his voice higher than the hushed tones they'd been using to avoid waking the other two.

"Yeah, it looked like it," Blaine said. "That's probably what they're talking about now."

"Wow," Dave said. "That would be so cool. I mean, I was just getting used to the idea of being gay, and out, and having a boyfriend. Boyfriend, it still sounds a little funny." Dave let out a soft laugh while Blaine smiled. "I just ... wow, getting married ... I never even thought I could think as far as out, much less a happily ever after. I almost don't wanna call now, I don't wanna interrupt them."

"Yeah, but we don't want to wake these two either," Blaine said smiling again.

"Crap, I don't have Mr. D's number," Dave said looking at his phone.

"Just call Derrick," Blaine said, "he gave us all his number."

"Yeah. My 'duh' moment for the day, huh?" Dave dialed and waited for the response.

"What's up Dave?" Derrick said. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry to bother you guys," Dave said. "Could I speak to Mr. D really quick?"

"Sure, hold on a sec..."

"What's going on Dave?" Dan asked.

"Nothing," Dave said. "We just ... well Sam and Kurt are passed out on the bed and Blaine and I didn't want to risk waking them. We were wondering if it would be okay if we went down to the hotel's sauna for a while."

"Both of you?" Dan asked.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, okay," Dan said. "Just stay together, and don't stay in there too long."

"Yeah, I know," Dave said. "Coach went over that with us with the one at school."

"Forgot we had one honestly," Dan said with a chuckle, "though that was a much better alumni gift than that damn Slushee machine ever was."

"Call me when you get back to the room if we're not back there by the time you get done so I know you're back safe," Dan said. "And don't forget to leave Sam and Kurt a note so you don't freak them out."

"Good idea," Dave said laughing.

"Thanks for calling first," Dan said. "Have fun."

"Thanks," Dave said then hung up.

"Well?" Blaine asked.

"He said to remember to leave them a note and to have fun."

Blaine laughed as he walked over to the desk and grabbed a piece of the complimentary hotel stationary and wrote Kurt and Sam the note. He folded it like a tent and wrote their names on it then placed it beside the ever so popular ice bucket, near where they always left the room key, so it would be in clear view when the other two woke up.

The two grabbed a change of clothes and then left for the elevators.

* * *

><p>Downstairs in the small hotel locker room, the two unconsciously chose opposing lockers so they didn't have to change in front of one another. They met at the door to the sauna wearing only towels around their waists. As they opened the door to go in they were met by the wave of dry baking heat.<p>

"This is fun ... right?" Blaine said, stepping inside and trying to figure out if his lungs were being cooked.

"I don't know about fun," Dave said, "but it is relaxing once you get in here."

Dave sat in the corner of the lower bench as Blaine hopped up on the upper bench on the opposite side.

"So you just relax huh?" Blaine said.

"Well that's the idea," Dave said smiling.

Blaine leaned against the wall and stretched his legs across the bench crossing his ankles.

"It ... is ... hot," Blaine said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Yeah, but it's a dry heat," Dave said with a chuckle. A little while later Dave broke their comfortable silence. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot," Blaine said looking over at him.

"Well you pretty much know how it was when we all came out," Dave said. "You've been out the longest, right?" Blaine nodded. "What was it like for you?"

Blaine took a deep breath of the hot soup surrounding him. "Well, I was in middle school. I'd always kind of known that I was a little different. Most of the other guys were starting to check out girls, and I really couldn't care less. I was worried more with what the guys looked like rather than who they wanted to go out with. Eventually, it dawned on me that when I looked in magazines and such I was looking at what the ladies were wearing and what the guys weren't."

"If you don't really want to tell me, you can just tell me to shut up," Dave said, his tone serious, but friendly.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Maybe I've been hanging around Mr. D too long," Dave said. "It just sounds like you're avoiding the actual question." Dave gave him a little frown. "I asked you what it was like when you came out, not how you decided or figured out you were gay ... but it's okay..."

"I ... well," Blaine started, but stopped to think about it. He took another deep breath, or at least tried to. "The first person I came out to was a girl I knew in the band. She was cool, we always hung out, and she didn't seem to have problems with anybody."

"How'd it go?" Dave asked.

"Great, we hung out and compared notes on the guys in our classes for the rest of seventh grade." They both laughed. "The beginning of the next year she kind of started ... pushing me toward this other guy in our class. I was a little slow on the uptake, though, it took me most of the quarter to realize that he was gay too. She tried every way she could to get the point across without actually telling either of us.

"I eventually decided to tell my parents that year. I figured I was a good kid, I never disappointed them, I always did the right thing, I never got in trouble, they loved me ... what was one more piece of information."

From his tone, Dave wasn't sure he was going to like the next part.

"My mom cried," Blaine said looking at the tiles somewhere over Dave's head. "She wanted to know what she'd done wrong. My dad ... was sure that I wasn't sure. I couldn't be, not at that age." He let out a half laugh. "He told me to give it some more time. So I did."

"My mom didn't really look at me without tearing up for about a month. Then her therapist switched up her meds and it got a little easier. My dad though, he picked up the 'guy stuff', took me to ballgames, watched them with me all the time. He even accidently left a Playboy out where I could find it."

Dave smiled at the thought of such an obvious attempt.

"Eventually he asked me if I'd figured out my problem yet. I said I wasn't aware that I had one." Blaine kind of snorted a laugh. "He suggested that I at least try taking some girls out on dates. I was feeling like a smart ass because he'd said that I had a problem that needed fixing, so I asked him why I shouldn't just take a guy out on a date instead.

"I have never seen him so angry in my life... I thought he was about to slug me for a minute there ... he was so red in the face, and I could literally hear his teeth grinding, the little veins in his neck and temples pulsing ... but he just kind of stormed off."

"The Sadie Hawkins dance came around at school. I really wanted to go. I loved music and I loved to dance, but tradition is the girl asks you." Blaine crossed his arms. "I finally bucked up and asked my friend, the only other gay guy I knew so I knew he wasn't going otherwise. We weren't even into one another," Blaine laughed, "we were just friends who both happened to be gay. We figured we'd go stag, just dance with whomever. My dad wasn't having any of it, though. I tried telling him it was just two friends going there together, not a date, but he still wasn't going for it. He didn't tell me I couldn't go, but he wasn't taking me. So my friend's dad drove us."

Blaine took another deep breath and let it out. "I don't know if we danced too close or..." He eyes were tearing up. "While we were waiting outside for his dad to pick us up ... three of them jumped us. They beat the crap out of us."

Dave held his breath, unable to put "what might have beens" out of his mind, and he was tearing up too.

"You know, I don't know what made me feel worse ... the look on Dominic's face when I didn't ... couldn't ... get back up and help him ... or my dad saying that he had told me that it wasn't a good idea to go in the first place." Blaine ran his fingers through his sweat dampened hair then crossed his arms again.

"Umm ... well I got pissed off as usual. I was determined that I was going to start a GSA ... a Gay Straight Alliance group at school. I was going to fix them, going to show them all the light. My dad was absolutely livid, but I made my own posters and put them up around school. Dominic on the other hand just kind of grew invisible. We stopped hanging out; he switched seats in class and didn't even acknowledge me in the halls. I managed to make it through the rest of the school year though without getting suspended, just a few notes home for posting 'inappropriate materials in inappropriate areas'." Blaine smiled wistfully.

"Of course, then it happened ... high school. I went from a medium fish in a medium pond to a little fish in a shark tank. I tried again. Out ... and ... proud. The upper classmen weren't having it, though. The pushing, shoving, tripping, slipping ... 'hello locker' - SLAM ... 'hello door' - SLAM ... 'goodbye books' - WHOOPS..."

Tears fell from Dave's eyes and he hung his head as he remembered every time he'd done it to Kurt and the others.

"I got through most of that first semester before... You know, she tried to warn me, she said they wouldn't do anything ... couldn't do anything ... until..."

Dave looked at him curiously, the tears only partly disguised by the sweat on his face.

"The teacher that tried," Blaine said. "She was the one that gave me that Trevor Project flyer. It was like one big school, took up a few whole blocks. The elementary was on one end, middle school, appropriately in the middle and the high school was on the other end." Blaine gestured with his hands showing where each building would be, and then re-crossed his arms. "I had to walk home, past the middle and elementary and then through the little play park in the neighborhood. I made it as far as the middle school..."

Dave coughed and shifted uncomfortably, but Blaine just reversed the way his arms were crossed. He looked a million miles away now.

"Four of them ... they made me eat one of my posters first. Then two of them held while two of them punched. Still don't know how many times they switched up. Don't remember much after the first time they switched ... not until I woke up on the stretcher as they loaded me into the ambulance. The EMT was saying that it was going to be alright and that my parents were on their way. I vaguely remember wondering if he was sure about that."

Dave cried silently not wanting to interrupt the flow of the flood gates he'd accidently opened. He couldn't help but picture himself, his uncle and his grandfather as three of the assailants.

"I was excused from school for the rest of that semester. They wanted the cracked ribs and the gash on the back of my head to heal up first. Couldn't really lie on my back that entire time, but then the ribs made it hard to lie on my side too so... You know, that's where I'd gotten the pills. Pain pills for my head and ribs and some sleeping pills of my mom's." Blaine nodded; his eyes vacant.

"The next semester started and what days I wasn't sick, I was in the nurse's office puking my guts out by second period, third at the latest. They put me in therapy, but there wasn't anything wrong with me, there was something wrong with everyone else, and no one could help me fix that."

"They wanted me to go to summer school to make up the work so I wouldn't be behind, but I got lucky and my angel of a teacher ... the one who found me on the merry go round, she was an advisor for the summer program. She pointed out that since those four guys had finally gotten expelled for putting me in the hospital ... they'd be making up the classes that they'd miss in the same summer school." He wiped at his eyes then returned to his cross armed position. It was as if he were building a shell around himself to protect him from the bad memories.

"It was my therapist who eventually took pity on me ... or my parents. She looked up Dalton herself. She suggested it to my parents and when they heard about the zero tolerance policy they jumped at it; Mom because she wouldn't have to worry about me anymore, and dad because ... he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore." Blaine laughed, but he still wasn't in there. It was like he'd stepped out to let someone else recount the painful memories.

"I started at Dalton and I finally understood what Dominic did, why he did it. The uniforms were all the same, we were all the same, I could just disappear. I went through my second freshman year being as inconspicuous as possible."

"It wasn't until later that first year, the Warblers won at Regionals for the first time in five years and the whole school was celebrating. They drug everyone to the senior commons and they performed. It was some stupid doo-wop song, but it was catchy." Blaine smiled; he had finally returned from his trip. He wiped the sweat and tears from his face and ran his fingers through his hair again.

"It was so amazing. I kept looking for the speakers," he laughed. "I just couldn't believe that that wall of sound could come from them, just their voices."

Dave smiled.

"That's when I met Wes. He saw me dancing along. We had math together ... the only class I managed to squeak by and pass so I wasn't behind everyone else. He insisted on hanging out ... he needed help with his math homework." Blaine laughed again. "He drug me along to practices to help him with his homework between songs and stuff and I eventually met David. We ended up becoming inseparable. Class, coffee, choir."

"They caught me first or second week of my sophomore year singing along to a song in my car in the parking lot. Scared the shit out of me, and then had the nerve to drag me along to the Warbler auditions with them. I made it in and tried to fall in line with the rest of them. I just couldn't quite keep to that back up, beat-box part they wanted me to do as the most junior member. Darren, the senior council member who assigned the parts, just got tired of correcting me so he assigned me to a harmony where I at least came close to blending. The council liked my voice and started switching me back and forth between leads and harmonies. By the end of the year, they gave up all together and started handing me solos. Blaine and the Pips were born."

Dave gave him a funny look.

"Kurt's pet name for the Warblers," he told Dave smiling.

"You know, it was Jonny, bless his heart, who made me come out the second time, that's why he's been forever after called Jonny. We were at a performance for our sister school, Crawford Country Day ... literally our sister school ... all girls to our all boys. Afterwards there was a mixer and Jonny came over and asked me why I wasn't mingling more. When I said I just wasn't into it, he jokingly said, 'What are you, gay or something?' I must have blushed or something ... or maybe he's just that sensitive, I wouldn't put it past him." Blaine smiled blissfully. "He suddenly said that he was sorry and that it was okay. He even offered to keep an eye out for prospects for me."

He and Dave both laughed.

"He asked me if I'd told Wes or David, and when I told him no, he asked me why not. He said they could help look too. He actually forgot about the rest of the mixer and just sat and talked with me, and he's one of the biggest lady chasers out there. He went with me to tell Wes and David ... I became their project. Find Blaine a date, 'we Warblers fly together'. I told them I thought that was the Mighty Ducks and was promptly told to shut up, 'ducks have nothing over Warblers!'"

Blaine sighed. "Best year of my life ... until this year when I met a spy on a staircase." Blaine sat quietly before rubbing his eyes.

"You okay?" Dave asked him.

"Yeah," Blaine said nodding. "Surprisingly."

Dave just nodded at him.

"I don't know if it was the sweat or the tears, but I got something out," Blaine said laughing.

"I was almost sorry I asked," Dave said, "but you sound like you feel better. Have you told Kurt any of that?"

"I told him about the dance when he asked me to Prom," Blaine said. "He just seemed like he needed me ... like he needed someone to prop him up, more than he needed someone leaning on him."

Dave thought for a few moments. "You ever see a step ladder?" Dave asked him.

"What?" Blaine asked, looking at him.

"Ever see a step ladder?" Dave said again slowly.

"Yeah of course," Blaine said laughing. "Why?"

Dave placed his hands together in the shape of a capitol "A". "Both sides lean on one another," he said pressing his finger tips together. "That's how they stand up."

Blaine smiled. "You have been hanging out with Mr. D too long."

"Actually that was Reverend George, the last minister at our church."

"Smart man."

"You two were cute together by the way," Dave said. "I loved his kilt." They both smiled. "Hey, Bryce is Scottish, I wonder if he wears one."

"I wonder if he wears it like a true Scot," Blaine said grinning. Dave looked at him inquisitively. "They don't wear anything underneath them." Blaine arched his brow as Dave laughed.

They sat for several more minutes.

"You said your dad had moved on from trying to fix you ... to just ignoring you?" Dave said, wary of opening up another flood.

Blaine sighed. "You know, he's bought season tickets every year since I came out, but he never had before that. He took me to every home game for three years straight. We even watched every away game together at home on TV. He actually bought a '59 Chevy two summers ago, and rebuilt it with me in our driveway; signed it over to me when I got my driver's license. I just don't think that he can rationalize how I can like sports, like cars, like getting greasy under the hood - within reason of course, yet ... still ... like ... guys.

"After the car, he just kind of quit trying. Of course, I'm busier now, so we don't really have time to go to all the games and stuff. I'd like to think that we'd still go, if we had time, that we both still had something in common, but honestly I think now that I'm eighteen he's just waiting for me to get out of school so that I'm no longer his responsibility," Blaine said mournfully.

"Wait you're already eighteen?" Dave said.

"Yeah, hit the mark in February," Blaine said. Dave looked confused. "I'm a year behind in school because I missed so much class after my ... adventures. That first freshman year was so great I decided to repeat it. At least the second one was at Dalton instead." Blain ran his hands across his face again; wiping the sweat away and then ran his fingers through his hair. He laced his hands behind his head as he leaned against the wall. A few moments later his nose wrinkled and he turned his head and sniffed. "Oh man I'm rank!" he said, a disgusted look on his face.

"The joys of manhood!" Dave said laughing.

"What?" Blaine said joining his laughter.

"Nothing," Dave said. "How 'bout we go for a shower?"

"Please!" Blaine said nodding and sliding from the top bench to the bottom one. "As I said before, it is hot in here." They walked out of the small room. "And it's cold out here! What the hell man?"

"Sorry, I should have warned you about that," Dave said laughing. "You're body adjusts the heat and then everything else feels cold until you get a shower and flip your body thermostat back."

"Brrr," Blaine said as he shivered all the way to the shower room.

They entered separate stalls and showered off. Dave finished shortly before Blaine and headed for the lockers. Blaine was toweling off his hair as he walked up behind him and Dave turned as he finished.

"Oh ... wow!" Dave said.

Blaine grinned and wobbled his head allowing his curls to flop back and forth. "Told ya! Gel is a necessity," he said as he put on his glasses.

"I don't know, it doesn't look too bad, especially with the glasses," Dave said smiling. "It's just ... different."

They finished getting dressed and head back up to their room.

* * *

><p><strong>End note: <strong>

Got tissues? Went through a box writing this one...

Feel free to share...


	23. 23  A Different Goodbye

**Author's Note**:

Well, it's Father's Day weekend and I'm in a generous mood, so I thought I'd share the wealth...

Enough from me ... on with the show!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

**23 - A Different Goodbye**

* * *

><p>Dan opened the door to the room carefully and quietly in case the boys were still asleep, but he instead found an expectant and hopeful looking Kurt hopping up from the sofa.<p>

"Oh, it's just you guys," he said rather despondently.

The three men chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint," Dan said, "but I'm sure your handsome boyfriend will be the next one to walk through the door for you."

"I'm sorry," Kurt said. "I'm just used to a little more personal good bye or see you later, even if it's just on the phone."

"Yeah, and he didn't think to look for the note before he searched the room," Sam said sounding rather sullen as he sat on the sofa. "He even looked under the bed ... while I was still in it."

The other three men laughed as Derrick and Bryce sat beside Sam and Dan took a seat in one of the arm chairs.

"I said I was sorry," Kurt said plopping into the other chair.

The sound of the door once again drew their attention. Kurt jumped up and bounded over. "Blaine Warbler!" he exclaimed as he threw his arms around him and kissed him. Kurt suddenly froze. He slowly backed up and looked first at Blaine's face and then up at his hair and then back to his face. "Oh, my," he said cocking an eyebrow.

"See, I told ya ... necessity!" Blaine tossed over his shoulder to Dave.

"And I told you that I didn't think it looked that bad," Dave said, coming to sit on the arm of the sofa by Sam.

Kurt leaned his head to the side examining Blaine's 'new look'. "No, it's not that bad ... it's just..."

"Different," Blaine finished the statement with him. "Hey, I'll have you know that this look was all the rage back in seventh grade..."

"Well you may want to leave it there," Kurt said under his breath.

"What was that?" Blaine said smiling.

Kurt eyed him a minute, then reached out and ran his hands through the loose curls. He moved them all through Blaine's hair as Blaine's eyes followed his wrists as they moved about above his forehead. Kurt withdrew his hands and ran his thumbs over the tips of his fingers. He reached out once more and tussled Blaine's hair as their teacher had their first night there. Satisfied he arched his eyebrow and drew his mouth to the side.

Blaine arched an eyebrow and looked from Kurt to the others then back with a look that said, "Is this safe?"

"No residue ... no evidence," Kurt said with a mischievous grin. "This has possibilities!"

The others all laughed.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him to the chair and sat him down then sat on his lap. He leaned down and kissed him then began running his hand absently through Blaine's curls.

"So ... did you guys have a nice ... talk?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, can't complain..." Dan said.

"Did anything specific come up?" Dave asked in Derrick's direction.

"Specific, like what specifically?" Derrick asked innocently.

"Specifically round," Blaine said arching an eyebrow.

"Circular to be more specific," Dave said squinting over at Derrick.

Bryce laughed while Sam looked lost. "Did you guys decide to punk me while I was asleep?" Sam said shaking his head and shrugging.

"Yes, we talked," Bryce said.

"And..." Blaine said as Dave said, "So...?"

"Well if you all know then why can't we?" Kurt said in exasperation.

"Because you're all so thoroughly adorable when you're curious?" Bryce said laughing.

"Okay, I think I musta slept on ma brain," Sam said his southern accent thick. "Cuz I am totally lost."

Dave reached down and grabbed Bryce's left arm and pulled his hand toward Sam. Sam looked at it a minute and tipped his head to the side. He looked at his own hands and then mimed saluting for the Pledge of Allegiance with each hand. "That's the marriage hand," Sam said pursing his lips together. He looked up at Bryce who grinned. Sam's eyes grew wide. "OH MY GAWD! You two are...?"

Bryce and Derrick nodded.

"Oh my God!" Sam said again. "When? And please don't tell me this whole time or I'm gonna shoot myself!"

"Today while you guys were at your second show," Bryce said. "He got down on one knee like a gentleman and everything."

"Awww," the five of them said in chorus.

"Oh shut up!" Derrick said laughing.

"Now that part you didn't tell me," Dan said. "Mom would be so proud!"

"Yeah well his first answer was, 'Do you know what you're asking?'" Derrick said.

"Well your first question was, 'You're gonna make me say it aren't you?'"

Dan nearly rolled out of his chair laughing. He ended up having to lean back in the chair to catch his breath. "Oh my God, that it priceless!" he finally managed once he regained his composure. "My brother, the romantic."

"Well it was extremely romantic," Bryce said. "It was just..."

"Different?" Blaine offered grinning. Bryce nodded.

"Well, when's the wedding?" "Where are you having it?" "Are we invited?" "Are you wearing a kilt?" "Can we wear kilts?" The questions all came rapid fire.

"Slow down guys!" Dan said. "They haven't even told our folks yet."

Bryce looked at Derrick for a moment. "You know ... it might be easier to have the ceremony around your folks place in Ohio."

"You haven't even been to my folks place," Derrick said.

"As if I didn't Google where you were going when you went home to visit the other month!"

Dan smiled.

"No, I mean none of our family lives in New York or LA," Bryce said. "Mum, Da an' Grand-Da are the only ones in Champaign, so most of my family will have to fly in anyway. It might be easier on all to do it in Ohio; at least you have a lot of family who live around there." He shrugged.

Derrick tipped his head and shrugged. "We'll talk about more details after we tell my folks."

"That might be a good first step..." Bryce agreed. He looked at his watch. "Uh, it's getting late..."

Derrick bit the inside of his jaw then sighed.

"It's okay," Sam said. "Our flight out isn't until tomorrow evening and Kurt and I are all rested up from our little nap."

"Yeah, but our flight out is tomorrow morning," Bryce said sadly.

"While Danny's pretty open, and I know he loves me," Derrick said, "I don't think he wants to share a bed with me and Bryce."

"I don't know," Dan said grinning. "Bryce might be the one guy I could switch teams for."

Bryce grinned as Derrick glared at his brother. "Finders keepers, get yer own Scotsman!"

They all laughed.

"We've got stuff at the apartment that we need to get packed to take back to LA with us anyway," Derrick said.

"Why didn't you pack while we were at the show?" Dan asked.

"We got a little..." Bryce gave Derrick a sideways look, "distracted."

"Oh?" Dan said, the boys grinning.

"Well I did propose to him on bended knee during that time," Derrick said.

"And that took you three hours?" Dan said smirking.

"Depends on what else he was doing while he was down there..." Blaine said giggling.

"Actually that was Bryce..." Derrick said.

The boys all started giggling.

"And you just wait and see how long it is before I go down there again," Bryce said blushing.

The boys cracked up completely.

Once things had calmed back down, Derrick looked at Bryce and nodded toward their bags. Bryce nodded back at him and went over and retrieved them.

"Uh, Danny," Derrick said. "We got you something."

"Derrick you know you didn't have to..."

"I know," Derrick said stopping him. "I wanted to. You've been there for me for ... everything. I know there's nothing that I could ever do or give you to equal what you've done ... but..." Bryce handed him the medium sized box out of his bag and Derrick handed it to Dan.

Dan took it and looked at the deep blue paper and carefully opened the box. His brows wrinkled and then one arched. "Derrick ... I..." Dan started. Derrick shook his head. "I was joking, you know."

"I know," Derrick said. "Let's just call it a ... brother thing." He smiled as he and Bryce both held up their phones.

Dan reached into the box and pulled out a matching iPhone.

"Our numbers are already programmed in," Bryce said.

"And it's unlocked so you can use whatever carrier you want," Derrick added.

"Guys this is too much," Dan said.

"Probably ... since it means we can reach you any time we want to," Bryce said.

Dan laughed.

"Wow, that's sweet," Blaine said. "Hey, we all got Derrick number, and Bryce's just magically popped up in my inbox earlier ... still not sure how that happened, but do we get yours too Mr. D?"

Dan arched an eyebrow at him. "Maybe..."

Blaine laughed.

"We brought you guys all something too," Bryce said, dipping into Derrick's bag.

"Hey you already gave me the glasses and the books," Sam said. "I can't take anything else from you."

"It's okay," Derrick said. "These are from Tyler."

Bryce handed them all small jewel-case shaped packages. They opened them all together and found CDRs with a scrawled signature.

"Those are copies of all the pictures that Tyler took of you guys at the club," Derrick said smiling.

"I've got one last one for you, Dan," Bryce said. Derrick looked over at him questioningly as he handed Dan the larger box.

"Bryce..." Dan said.

"Ack, dinnae argue wi' me," Bryce said smiling.

Dan rolled his eyes and opened the box. "No, no, no ... too much Bryce!"

Derrick looked at them curiously.

"No it's not, you need something big enough that you can share with your kids when you're doing lessons," Bryce said.

"But..."

"No buts," Bryce said.

Dan shook his head as he pulled out the latest model iPad.

Bryce reached over and hit the power button on the iPad. "Tap the NYC icon," Bryce said once it was awake. Dan did as he was instructed and a folder appeared with all of the boys pictures. "I went ahead and loaded up your copy," Bryce said smiling.

"Bryce ... guys," Dan said shaking his head.

"Shut it you," Bryce said standing and walking over to him. Dan stood up and they hugged as Derrick came over as well.

Once the brothers released one another the boys all came round them, sad faces all around. Derrick and Bryce hugged each of them in turn.

"We're gonna miss you guys," Derrick said. "Just don't forget, you all have my ... our numbers. Call us if you need anything."

"And Sam," said Bryce, "Don't forget to give me a call and let me know how the glasses work for you."

Sam nodded as Dan walked them to the door. With one last hug and a small peck on the jaw of each, the two left and Dan closed the door behind them. He rejoined the others and took in the sad faces. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, it just could have lasted a little longer," Dave said.

"It still would have been a goodbye," Dan said. "Hey, what did Derrick tell you?"

"Band-aid, huh?" Dave said.

Dan nodded. "Hey, why don't we take a look at the photos? That'll at least be a little bit of a distraction."

The boys reluctantly agreed and Dan grabbed the new iPad and sat in the center of the sofa. Sam and Kurt squeezed in to either side of him, while Dave and Blaine perched on the arms.

It was just the distraction they needed. They laughed as they flipped through the pictures from the club; both on the dance floor and during their "kidnapping" then saw ones from their evening in the diner. Kurt nudged Blaine as they came to the one where their new friend had taught him the "proper way to 'swish and flick'".

They got to ones from today's matinee show and they all gasped and began to laugh as they came to one of Sam, his eyes bulging as Spider-Man hovered over him; Blaine in the background with his mouth opened wide in shock. Bryce had obviously used his phone to snap it just as Spidey had landed. A few more shots and Dan was taken aback. There was a shot of Kurt standing beside Reeve, who was standing beside someone that looked an awful lot like Zac Efron.

"Uh, when was this?" Dan asked.

Blaine laughed. "Just before you walked up, Kurt walked right into them both."

"I did, but I said excuse me as any polite young man should," Kurt said proudly as he mimed straightening his tie and dusting off his lapels. "Reeve called me courteous and Zac even agreed. Take that every bitch and bastard that thought they were getting my goat at Prom. Forget Kate Middleton, I am the best Prom Queen ... ever! Behold my court!" They all laughed. "You know, he is one fine piece of man, especially up close," Kurt said.

"I don't know, I still think Derrick's better looking," Blaine said.

"Just as long as you don't tell him that," Dan said. Blaine arched his eyebrow and drew his mouth to one side. "You didn't..."

"No ... no of course not..."

Dan nodded and advanced the frame. The next image was an edited version of the previous one with Zac crossed out and Derrick edited in, with the caption: "Blaine even agrees. :P" Dan turned to Blaine and squinted. Blaine just cut him a sideways smile and shrugged.

* * *

><p>It was a week later and they were all back home in good old Lima. They returned to the usual mix of apathy and humdrum. They'd only taken third after all. "Big whoop," seemed to be the consensus.<p>

The plane ride home had been much less exciting and definitely less bumpy. The biggest bumps on that flight occurred when Dan tapped Blaine or Kurt's seatbacks when the giggles got a wee bit too giddy. Sam once again slept the entire trip, but this time he was wrapped in a blanket, curled up on Dave's warm, comfortable shoulder rather than leaning against the cold, hard window of the plane.

Blaine and Kurt had been excused from classes the day of the Dalton graduation exercises and were again proudly in their navy and red blazers with the rest of the Warblers to "sing out" their senior brothers. They shared a tearful "see you later" with Wes, David, Thad, and Jonny as they wished them all well at college.

Now, after wasting their entire free period after Principal Figgins' "Farewell to the seniors and have a wonderful break" assembly, the entire glee club was sitting in the choir room waiting for the final bell of the year to dismiss them for the summer.

Santana stood and slowly walked up to lean on the piano. "Guys, I have something to say," she said quietly. The others hushed as Mr. Schuester leaned over in the chair in his office to see what was going on. "I need to apologize to some of you." They looked at her, and as she scanned their faces. "Okay, most of you," she said.

"I haven't been very polite ... or gracious..." She looked at them again. "Okay, I've been downright mean and vindictive to most of you. I just haven't been feeling very loved. A very smart friend of mine pointed out recently that being all mean and vindictive like that wasn't cool. He even suggested that I should ... figure out why I'm not happy and I've pretty much accepted that. Another friend told me that I should try embracing all the awesomeness that I am, and I think she's brilliant ... and right. Besides, hell, if these losers can do it, so can I," she said indicating Blaine, Kurt, Sam and Dave.

Santana unzipped her hoodie to reveal a plain white tee with the word "LEBANESE" stenciled on the front. "Guys ... I like girls... I kissed one ... and I know I like it."

"We all know that," Quinn said. "And aren't you Hispanic?"

"No ... I like girls..." Santana said. "As in..." She nodded toward the four boys again.

"Wait, isn't that spelled..." Rachel started before Santana cut her off.

"It's a typo!" Santana said. She took a deep breath then exhaled. "I've been really moody because I've been in love with this one girl for a while now, only she's got this really great guy that she's in love with too. And I was just a little jealous and I took it out on the rest of you."

Brittany walked over and placed her arms around her. "I'm so proud of you," she told Santana.

Once Brittany let go, Santana looked at the others. "Well, are any of you going to say anything?"

"Well, if you're gonna to be a loser, I guess it's better to be a loser like me," Dave said as he took Sam's hand and pulled him up.

"Yeah, I guess the best thing about being a loser is," Sam said, "eventually you gotta win something." They walked over and hugged her.

"Seconded," Blaine said as he and Kurt walked over to do the same.

The others all came over and piled on her in a hug as well.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner you fool?" Mercedes said.

"I guess I'm just not as bright as some of my friends," she said kissing Sam on the cheek. He smiled and he and Dave both kissed her on the cheeks.

Passing by Schuester's office on his way down the hall, Deen glanced in and spied the scene. He quietly opened Schuester's door and stepped in. Schuester glanced up. "They didn't all lose it and decide to kill her did they?" he asked quietly.

"No," Schuester said, arching an eyebrow. "Apparently she's a Lebanese ... I mean a lesbian. Damn, who know?"

"Derrick," Deen said shrugging. Schuester turned to him and stared. "He figured it out at the meet and greet. She wasn't leering at him or Bryce; she was drooling over the actresses instead."

Schuester just shook his head as the bell rang and the school year officially ended.

* * *

><p><strong>End note: <strong>

Well it's been fun, but this adventure has come to an end. Don't worry though; our loveable cast has dragged me straight into another one...

Check out **_Rise Above_**, the sequel to **_Loser Like Me_**.


End file.
